Thailand’s baht surges due to foreign inflows

An employee of Krung Thai bank in Bangkok (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s baht has surged past 31 per US dollar on the back of month-to-date net foreign inflows moving into local equities and bonds, a motion contrary to Thailand's economic outlook.

The currency has strengthened by 2.7 percent against the dollar since the end of May, ranking third after Indonesia's rupiah and the Republic of Korea's won, according to the Bank of Thailand (BoT).

The baht's value touched 30.82 at one point on June 11. Its value against the greenback has seen a sharp appreciation, surging from 33 in early April to pierce the 31-per-dollar threshold this month.

The baht was Asia's top-performing currency in 2019, ending the year with a value of 29.90 to the dollar as investors perceived it as a safe haven because of Thailand's high current account surplus and foreign reserves.

Chantavarn Sucharitakul, assistant governor for communications and corporate relations at the BoT, said the baht's appreciation is in line with the trend of regional currencies as the dollar weakens.

Month-to-date net foreign inflows are valued at 5.8 billion baht moving into local equities and 23 billion baht into bonds, according to data from the Stock Exchange of Thailand and the Thai Bond Market Association./.