BANGKOK, June 24 (TNA) – The Bank of Thailand maintains
its policy rate at 0.5 percent and warns that the economy could contract 8.1
percent due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Thailand
decided in its meeting on Wednesday.
Secretary of the MPC Titanun Mallikamas said the committee
members voted unanimously to maintain the policy rate at 0.5 percent.
The committee viewed that the Thai economy could contract
8.1 percent this year, a record low, he said.
Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, he said, the
MPC believed that economic activities would gradually recover in the second
half of the year in Thailand and other countries that effectively contained the
outbreak.
To support businesses and facilitate the economic recovery,
timely fiscal measures along with accommodative monetary policy, credit
measures and speedy debt restructuring would be vital, Titanun said.
The MPC members also raised concerns over the appreciation
of Thai baht that could hurt the economic recovery and vowed to implement
appropriate measures, he said.(TNA)
