Thailand: BoT to tighten foreign exchange monitoring

• The Bank of Thailand is set to tighten foreign exchange monitoring to prevent short-term baht speculation after the local currency surged to its highest level in more than six years on 20 Jun 19.
• The central bank will take a stricter approach in tracking transactions suspected of parking short-term money in the country for speculative purposes, said Vachira Arromdee, assistant governor overseeing financial markets operations.
• Thailand’s currency unit traded at 30.95 per USD, up from the previous day’s 31.19 figure.
• The baht has emerged as the best-performing currency in Asia, gaining 4.8% YTD against the USD. The JPY is second with a 1.8% YTD rise.
• Bullish sentiment for the baht is expected to continue until the G20 summit ends, as investors are betting that the US-China talks will help ease the trade spat, Mr Jitipol said.
• “The THB’s strength is, however, too fast and the trend is likely to reverse in the future,” he said.
• Investors will also focus on the Bank of Thailand’s rate-setting panel meeting set for 26 Jun 19 to take cues as to whether the central bank will join the global easing trend, he said.

External Link: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1698992/bot-to-tighten-foreign-exchange-monitoring