Us Dollar Plunges, Bank Of Thailand Intervenes To Stabilise The Baht

[george]

BoT intervenes to stabilise Thailand's baht currency upon US dollar plunge

BANGKOK: -- The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has intervened to tame the baht’s fluctuation upon finding that the US dollar had weakened rapidly, according to a senior central bank official.

Pongpen Ruengvirayudh, Senior Director of BoT's Financial Markets and Reserve Management Department said economic indicators in the United States had significantly improved, showing investors were confidence in the economic recovery and were ready to take greater risk.

Under the circumstances, the US dollar had flowed into the stock and bond markets more than usual, resulting in the baht strengthening quite rapidly.

Thailand central bank believed it necessary to intervene in the baht’s movement to ensure that the currency neither fluctuates nor strengthens too rapidly.

“We are not the only central bank intervening to supervise (the national currency) in the past one or two days. Other central banks in Asia attempted to oversee their currencies because the greenback has weakened rapidly.

“We believe the global financial market remains volatile and the baht is likely to strengthen or weaken depending on economic indicators in the US,” she said.

-- TNA 2009-09-17

Related link:

Baht rates: http://baht.thaivisa.com/

[lazygourmet]

[Ga-gai]

That's bad news for those on US Dollar retirement. Really boring, actually.

Are we gonna see more farangs doing bank robbery in the time to come?

Edited September 17, 2009 by Ga-gai

[TAWP]

“We believe the global financial market remains volatile and the baht is likely to strengthen or weaken depending on economic indicators in the US,” she said.

Thankfully they got it nailed down. I feel secure already.

[namoo]

Its plunged????

[Lopburi99]

33.65 mid-market per XE.com now.

[bdenner]

Been doing it for at least a month now, look at the charts hardly a ripple at 34.12 - 33.8 -- What's new?

Look here

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=USDTHB=X

Edited September 17, 2009 by bdenner

[animatic]

That's bad news for those on US Dollar retirement. Really boring, actually.

Are we gonna see more farangs doing bank robbery in the time to come?

So kind of you to say.

Hope your currency of choice doesn't tank too....

[Beacher]

"We believe the global financial market remains volatile and the baht is likely to strengthen or weaken depending on economic indicators in the US," she said.

Thankfully they got it nailed down. I feel secure already.

Ya, I thought that was pretty funny as well - talk about stating the obvious.

Am I missing something here? The sensationalist Headline says "...US Dollar Punges". However, when I look at the SCB curreny site the US dollar is the usual 33.xx baht that it's been for ages. When did it "plunge"? Or are the execs at BoT just catching on now that it dropped signifigantly in value a year ago or so? I'm so confused by this thread.

[Lopburi99]

"We believe the global financial market remains volatile and the baht is likely to strengthen or weaken depending on economic indicators in the US," she said.

Right, it's really not rocket science. If the U.S. economy improves, the USD weakens thus strengthening the baht. If the U.S. economy strengthens, the USD weakens thus strengthening the baht. Got it?

[angiud]

Old good Euro. = 1.47 Usd

[Garry]

33.65 mid-market per XE.com now.

I remember when the baht was 47 to the dollar...gone are those gravy days

[britmaveric]

Not really news been stuck at 33-34 for sometime, expect 35 or so in the coming months.

[Chunkton]

That's bad news for those on US Dollar retirement. Really boring, actually.

Are we gonna see more farangs doing bank robbery in the time to come?

So kind of you to say.

Hope your currency of choice doesn't tank too....

The US dollar isn't anyone's fault except Americans who keep electing corrupt governments who ignore the Constitution and drive their once great economy and country into the dirt so that the bankster political financiers and associated sycophants can get richer.

My currency doesn't look like tanking at all, but there again we never allowed our banks to to suck the life out of our economy.

[Zpete]

Hope the BoT steps in and keeps the Baht as it is.

I am coming in about 6 weeks.

NZ$ was 18B a few months back, now 24+B

Love it.

[Happinesss]

Swedish Krona - small currency with big fluctuations was down to 3.9bhat at the peak of the crisis.

Now it's around 4.88 25% increase.

At the time of the tsunami the krona was at its top around 6bhat. Makes a big difference for us receiving student money from Sweden.

Big and fast fluctuations are never good.

Edited September 17, 2009 by Happinesss

[wichianburi1]

Not really news been stuck at 33-34 for sometime, expect 35 or so in the coming months.

Is this a 'wild guess' or can you substantiate your prediction?

[britmaveric]

Just a hunch, no more no less. Forex speculation is what is - speculation.

[skipvice]

Just a hunch, no more no less. Forex speculation is what is - speculation.

It is always good to keep a positive outlook

[MILT]

That's bad news for those on US Dollar retirement. Really boring, actually.

Are we gonna see more farangs doing bank robbery in the time to come?

So kind of you to say.

Hope your currency of choice doesn't tank too....

The US dollar isn't anyone's fault except Americans who keep electing corrupt governments who ignore the Constitution and drive their once great economy and country into the dirt so that the bankster political financiers and associated sycophants can get richer.

My currency doesn't look like tanking at all, but there again we never allowed our banks to to suck the life out of our economy.

Woa Chunkyton Lighten up. What do you know about anything with regards to the USA? In the future there will be one world currency. Think about that for second. Your currency, my currency and their currencies all the same. Maybe not to far away.

[ludosiam]

Just my thoughts as someone without deeper knowledge of financial markets: If the dollar has dropped against the Baht because of an inflow of USD to Thai markets, isn't the BoT doing the wrong thing by keeping the Baht lower? If the Baht would strengthen as a cause of USD investment than certainly the loss in exchange rate would chip of some if not all profits thus dlowering USD investment. I can't imagine that big investors want to keep sitting on their THB for long.

[Artisi]

"We believe the global financial market remains volatile and the baht is likely to strengthen or weaken depending on economic indicators in the US," she said.

Thankfully they got it nailed down. I feel secure already.

Thought the statement (to strengthen or weaken ) was so stupid it wasn't worth a commen but you are correct, it really shows a deep considered constructive thought process was applied by the Bank of Thailand to arrive at such a profound statement - just shows that the economy doesn't stand much of a chance with thinking like that.

Edited September 18, 2009 by Artisi

[geriatrickid]

Isn't a lower USD good in the short term as it reduces the cost of US exports, so that they can compete against low cost countries like China? It also reduces the debt held by foreign countries, since they hold USD debt, right? Sucks to be a US expat though, but I don't think the minimum wage earner in Alabama that can't get health insurance is worried about that.

On the other hand, with some currencies remaining high, like the CAD @ 0.93ish to the USD now, it buggers up the Canadian exports but makes it easier for Canadian expats and tourists, not that Thailand is high on the list of locations to visit. I wish I could find the survey, but Canadians would rather visit "exotic" Australia than Thailand.

All I know is that I transact my airfare in USD and my costs have gone down in the past year as I convert from my currency, so it means I have more disposable income to spend in Thailand. I am planning on a shopping spree in Carrefour with my 1000 baht windfall

[Beggar]

Isn't a lower USD good in the short term as it reduces the cost of US exports, so that they can compete against low cost countries like China? It also reduces the debt held by foreign countries, since they hold USD debt, right? Sucks to be a US expat though, but I don't think the minimum wage earner in Alabama that can't get health insurance is worried about that.

With people like Greenspan and Bernanke + their team of banks they might achieve the goal to compete in an easy way with China pretty soon. When the standard of living is higher there they will be happy. But can it be a goal to bring down the own country and all the people in it just to be able to be competitive? It is a very sad story for a country if there is no better way to achieve this. Better products? Better quality? A very dangerous game for most of the US population not belonging to this "elite". And they are just watching and let them do...

Edited September 18, 2009 by Beggar

[marsteele]

I think it is great we aussies are now getting more baht per dollar.

[Carmine6]

"We believe the global financial market remains volatile and the baht is likely to strengthen or weaken depending on economic indicators in the US," she said.

Thankfully they got it nailed down. I feel secure already.

Ya, I thought that was pretty funny as well - talk about stating the obvious.

Am I missing something here? The sensationalist Headline says "...US Dollar Punges". However, when I look at the SCB curreny site the US dollar is the usual 33.xx baht that it's been for ages. When did it "plunge"? Or are the execs at BoT just catching on now that it dropped signifigantly in value a year ago or so? I'm so confused by this thread.

The headline also says "BoT intervenes to stabilise Thailand's baht " So the "usual 33.xx" is after they've intervened.

Check the Euro/USD against the THB rate:

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=3m&s=E...mp;c=thbusd%3Dx

There's been a big move since the start of September. Dollar against gold is similar to the Euro this month.

[animatic]

That's bad news for those on US Dollar retirement. Really boring, actually.

Are we gonna see more farangs doing bank robbery in the time to come?

So kind of you to say.

Hope your currency of choice doesn't tank too....

The US dollar isn't anyone's fault except Americans who keep electing corrupt governments who ignore the Constitution and drive their once great economy and country into the dirt so that the bankster political financiers and associated sycophants can get richer.

My currency doesn't look like tanking at all, but there again we never allowed our banks to to suck the life out of our economy.

Your kindness and sympathy are overwhelming.

Some of us NEVER voted for corruption.

[tropo]

Not really news been stuck at 33-34 for sometime, expect 35 or so in the coming months.

It's been stuck between 33 and 35 with a brief excursion up to 36 since June last year.

[Beggar]

Your kindness and sympathy are overwhelming.

Some of us NEVER voted for corruption.

Some might not be enough :-) But some might suffer the most!!!

[Beggar]

Not really news been stuck at 33-34 for sometime, expect 35 or so in the coming months.

It's been stuck between 33 and 35 with a brief excursion up to 36 since June last year.

The Thai central bank seems to keep the rate at around 49 to 50 to the Euro. If it goes higher the $ goes lower but the rate to the Euro does not move. The $ owners should thank the Thai central bank a lot for this. Otherwise the rate might be around 20 to the Baht. But this still can happen if they give up on this sad and doomed US currency - just think of Afghanistan, Iraq and now their currency war. They just got deeper into trobbles with all their elite guys... Sad that the population of a country allows this self-destruction. But people seem to be like this. Look at all the wars.