Thai central bank continue to raise policy rate

A banker count bath at the BoT (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Bank of Thailand (BoT) on November 30 raised its policy rate by 25 basis points for a third straight meeting, as it sought to balance between controlling inflation and supporting an economic recovery.

The bank’s monetary policy committee decided to raise the policy rate from 1% to 1.25%, effective immediately.

The move came after a 0.25-percentage-point rate hike announced at the monetary policy committee meeting on Sept. 28 and another one on August 10, the country's first rate hike since late 2018.

The latest rate hike, in line with market expectations, brought the key policy rate to its highest level since February 2020.

According to a BoT statement, Thailand's economic recovery has continued to gain traction, with tourism and private consumption remaining key economic drivers while the financial system is resilient, but the headline inflation is expected to be higher than the previous projection for 2023 due to domestic energy prices.

The bank underlined that gradual policy normalisation remains an appropriate course for monetary policy given the growth and inflation outlook, adding that the size and timing of policy normalissation will be adjusted if needed.

Thailand's inflation growth slowed to 5.98% in October, from 6.41% in September.

The BoT expected headline inflation to rise 6.3 percent year on year in 2022, before declining to 3% in 2023 and 2.1% in 2024. It predicted that the economy will grow 3.2% in 2022, 3.7% in 2023 and 3.9% in 2024./.

VNA