No Reason to Devalue the Thai Baht

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Undaunted
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No Reason to Devalue the Thai Baht

Post by Undaunted »

"In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king"
fountainhall

Re: No Reason to Devalue the Thai Baht

Post by fountainhall »

I respectfully request again that those posting some news articles either summarise or copy and paste in addition to posting a link. Bloomberg has a free readership limit of 10 articles per month. More than that and you must subscribe. Same goes for the New York Times and increasingly many other media organs. As we are near the end of the month, I have used up my limit on both.
Up2u

Re: No Reason to Devalue the Thai Baht

Post by Up2u »

As requested....

Thailand Growth Surges to Five-Year High as Exports Climb
By Suttinee Yuvejwattana
May 21, 2018, 9:34 AM GMT+7
Updated on May 21, 2018, 10:56 AM GMT+7
Expansion was 4.8% last quarter, beating all estimates
Statistics agency predicts growth of as much as 4.7% this year
Thailand’s economic growth surged to a five-year high last quarter, beating all economists’ estimates as rebounding farm output added to gains from exports and private consumption.

Key Points
Gross domestic product rose 4.8 percent from a year ago, the National Economic and Social Development Board said on Monday. That is the fastest pace since 2013
The median estimate of 18 economists in a Bloomberg survey was 4 percent
GDP rose a seasonally adjusted 2 percent compared with the previous three months, higher than the 1.2 percent median estimate
Four years after the military seized power, Thailand’s economy is rebounding with growth sustained by a pick-up in exports and tourism. The central bank last week held its benchmark rate near a record low to help support the economic recovery as businesses are still reluctant to invest.

The statistics agency raised its growth forecast for this year to 4.2 percent to 4.7 percent, from 3.6 percent to 4.6 percent.


“Higher exports help support the manufacturing sector,” Wichayayuth Boonchit, deputy secretary general of the state planning agency, said in a briefing in Bangkok. Private investment is expected to recover this year, he said.

The military government has cut red tape, stepped up efforts to woo foreign-direct investment for industrial modernization and is boosting infrastructure. But big projects have faced some delays and elections expected next year inject uncertainty into the outlook.

Thailand’s foreign-reserve buffers and a current-account surplus are helping to shield the nation from volatility as U.S. rates rise. The baht gained 0.1 percent to 32.163 per dollar as of 9:50 am in Bangkok. It earlier touched 32.363, the weakest level since January.

It is among the few emerging-market currencies that has gained against the dollar this year.

Other GDP details:
Exports rose 6 percent from a year earlier
Private consumption gained 3.6 percent while government spending rose 1.9 percent

The World Bank has said raising Thailand’s potential growth to a range of above 4 percent to 5 percent remains a challenge. Boosting education and services are critical to raising productivity as the population rapidly ages, it said.

— With assistance by Ditas B Lopez, and Michael J Munoz
fountainhall

Re: No Reason to Devalue the Thai Baht

Post by fountainhall »

Much appreciated up2u. Thanks
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