Photo: Bank of Thailand governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput (L) and Commerce minister Pichai Naripthaphan
Commerce Minister Pichai Naripthaphan has urged the Bank of Thailand to come up with measures to arrest the baht’s appreciation, which has reached a 19-month high, fluctuating between 33.00 and 33.70 baht against the US dollar and is hurting Thai exports.
He also criticised the governor of the Bank of Thailand, Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, over his reported remark that Thailand should not place too much emphasis on increasing GDP, saying that such an opinion is incorrect and questioning from which institution he had graduated.
Speaking at a press conference today, the commerce minister made clear that he has no personal grudge against the governor, but he believes that allowing the baht to strengthen against the US dollar too much, while the currencies of Thailand’s trading competitors are weak, is not right as it has negatively affected Thai exports.
GDP, said the commerce minister, is the revenue of a country and, without a high GDP, how can a country find the money to develop and improve the livelihoods of the people, adding that the governor was speaking as if he were not an economist.
He said that the baht has strengthened to 33.32 baht against the greenback within a month, pointing out that an increase of just 5-6% makes it harder for Thai exports to compete in the world market.
He said that he used to be in business and is fully aware that a strong baht will hurt exports, especially futures trading of agricultural produce.
Pichai then urged the Bank of Thailand to consider cutting interest rates, to increase liquidity and reduce borrowing costs, as he reminded the central bank’s governor that his role should not be limited to controlling inflation, because monetary policy is more important than financial policy.
The central bank, he said, should develop measures to boost the economy, adding that he has plans to meet with the central bank’s governor after his return from a working visit to Britain.
The central bank has persistently resisted repeated calls by the Pheu Thai-led government, since former prime minister Srettha Thavisin, to cut interest rates to boost the sluggish economy on the grounds that the Thai economy is not in crisis, as claimed by the government.
