Pundits have cautioned against hasty moves to cut interest rates and have emphasised the importance of an independent Bank of Thailand as it determines its policy interest rates. They warned that inconsistent fiscal and monetary policies could harm more than they help.

 

Therdsak Thaveeteeratham, Asia Plus Securities (ASPS) executive vice president, insisted that decisions regarding interest rates should be the sole jurisdiction of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, devoid of conflicts or interference. He stated, “The Bank of Thailand should be an independent organisation. Political interference can negatively affect public confidence in the financial system.”

 

Therdsak also called for fiscal and monetary policies to be consistent and reliable. “If fiscal and monetary policies are consistent without conflict, that will make supervision of the economic system smooth and create more confidence and stability.”

 

He believes that the Bank of Thailand has leeway to reduce interest rates given the current inflation rates. However, geopolitical risks and the El Niño weather phenomenon could cause an inflation surge, which may be causing concern, reported Bangkok Post.

 

by Alex Morgan

Picture courtesy of Seksan Rojjanametakul

 

Full story: The Thaiger 2024-01-11

 

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No central banks are independent. Rate cuts are irresponsible at this point because  inflation, at least as measured in my supermarket, is far from the silly numbers we see issued by the government. Get inflation down as measured by what a poor man eats, and get it down for a sensible  period of time (6 months to one year) before embarking on business friendly rate cuts.

1 hour ago, retarius said:

No central banks are independent. Rate cuts are irresponsible at this point because  inflation, at least as measured in my supermarket, is far from the silly numbers we see issued by the government. Get inflation down as measured by what a poor man eats, and get it down for a sensible  period of time (6 months to one year) before embarking on business friendly rate cuts.

Business friendly and debt friendly, private debt, gov debt too. The world got very used to cheap money.....

Edited January 11, 20242 yr by jacko45k

1 minute ago, jacko45k said:

Business friendly and debt friendly, private debt, gov debt too. The world got very used to cheap money.....

Jacko, you are correct, sir. Addicted to it in fact, and sadly business ideas that look great with interest rates at 2% lose their lustre when the rates rise to 5 % or 8% (the historical norm).  

The current 2% rates are very low already .

Inflation definitely is here , and I  do not see it disappear any time soon .

Edited January 11, 20242 yr by nobodysfriend

Would trust the guys at Bank of Thailand before any politician & anything under 3% is low for a developing country

2% is still really low. Businesses lobbying the government for cheap money really don't care about inflation though.