Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has urged the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to call a special meeting to review its decision to maintain the policy rate at 2.5%, without waiting until its next scheduled meeting on April 10.

In his “X” post on Monday night, the prime minister said that the economic performance figures released by the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) clearly show that the Thai economy is at a critical stage and the NESDC secretary-general agreed that it is time for a review of the policy rate.

Speaking to the media yesterday, following the release of the NESDC report on the Thai economic situation for the fourth quarter of last year, which projects that GDP growth for last year will be just 1.9%, the prime minister said that it is time to cut the policy rate by at least 25 basis points, to 2.25%, which will help ease the financial burden on people.

He said that his position on the policy rate is clear, noting that Thailand’s average GDP growth over the past 10 years has been under 2%, which is lower than its neighbouring countries, and the GDP is likely to shrink further.

He also said that his government is unable to disburse the 2024 national budget until April 1, adding that there is no injection of new money these days and Thailand’s GDP has been revised downward by every economic forecasting institution.

Asked why his appeal to the Bank of Thailand for a review of the policy rate has not been responded to by the central bank, the prime minister replied “Who controls the policy rate? The Bank of Thailand.”

Meanwhile, NESDC Secretary-General Danucha Pichayanan said today that he was not under pressure from the prime minister to urge the central bank to review its policy rate, adding that he raised the issue after having seen the economic performance figures.

He also said that he would prefer the central bank to review its position on other issues as well, not just the policy rate, but also the credit card interest rate and the spread between lending and deposit rates.