Thai baht cautiously intervened

Bank of Thailand's Governor Tarisa Watanagase on Wednesday conceded the central bank had intervened and taken other necessary measures to supervise the baht movement on a continual basis and with prudence and caution.

She said the baht had continued to strengthen because foreign investors had brought funds to invest in the Stock Exchange of Thailand and government bonds in a rather large amount as they viewed the Thai economy remained strong.

The stronger baht had both positive and negative effects, so, the central bank had come with necessary measures to oversee the currency movement, the governor was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying.

Although the baht was allowed to move by market mechanism, she said, the central bank had closely monitored it and intervened in its movement as needed.

The baht intervention needed to be justified because the bank must bring the international reserve to do that.

More importantly, the country was always at loss when it used the international reserve to intervene in the baht movement. So, the intervention must be made with prudence and caution, she said.

Tarisa called on all parties in both public and private sectors to join hands in preparation for the further appreciation of the baht, saying private companies, particularly exporters, needed to add value to their products, improve product quality, and find new markets.

She said the central bank had closely monitored the capital inflow and outflow, but still found nothing wrong.

Source: Xinhua