Thailand’s central bank on Wednesday voted 6-4 to raise its key interest rate by a quarter point for the first time in nearly four years to 0.75%.
The move was widely expected by economists after a 4-3 vote in the previous meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to keep the rate unchanged in June, seeing a lift in policy rate is necessary to fight surging inflation as the Thai economic recovery gains momentum from increasing tourist arrivals.
One member of the committee voted to raise the policy rate by 0.50 percentage point. The rate was last raised in December 2018.
17 of 20 economists surveyed by Reuters saw a 25 basis point hike in the meeting in August while the remaining expected for a 50 basis point.
