Thailand: Baht a lesser influence on exports: BOT – 12 Jul 2017

• The purchasing power of major trade partners and production restructuring to keep up with demand are having larger effects on exports than the baht’s movement, says a senior official at the Bank of Thailand.
• Vachira Arromdee, assistant governor of the financial markets operations group,
• Said that restructuring production output to match customer demand and fast-changing technology also played a significant role in export growth. Thailand’s exports fell in 2013, as outdated hard disk drives were the country’s top export at that time.
• Thai exports jumped 13.2% y/y in May 17 to THB676bn, the highest in more than four years. For the first five months of 2017, exports rose 7.2% to USD93.3bn, according to Commerce Ministry data.
• Soraphol Tulayasathien, executive director of the Macroeconomic Policy Bureau under the Fiscal Policy Office, said the pace of the baht’s gain against the dollar might not be significant, but the baht is firmer against major trade partners in Asia, which make up 25% of Thailand’s export value.
• The baht’s nominal effective exchange rate is stronger than that of its trade partners, with the index surging to 110.3 from 97.2 in 2009, he said.
• Thailand has 2.7mn business operators, of which 30,000 are small and mid-sized enterprise exporters. Fewer than 3,000 have hedged against currency risk.

External Link : http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/finance/1285447/bot-baht-a-lesser-influence-on-exports