Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the central bank’s rates are not supporting the economy, citing that a rate hike despite inflation at a negative territory has not been good to the economy at all. Meanwhile, the Thai PM also urged the Bank of Thailand to avoid any moves that will adversely impact low-income households.
The central bank maintained its policy rate at 2.5% in the final meeting of 2023 in November after raising rates by 200 basis points since August a year prior to curb inflation.
The Bank of Thailand will meet on February 7 to review the situation. However, analysts and economists were expecting to see no rate cuts in the first half of this year.
Thailand’s December headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) contracted by 0.83% YoY, compared to -0.3% YoY estimated in a Reuters poll. Inflation dropped 0.44% YoY in the previous month, according to the announcement by the commerce ministry on Friday.
Meanwhile, the core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.58% YoY, compared to a 0.6% rise expected in a Reuters poll.
The Thai PM said that he hoped the central bank would help take care of the people by not raising interest rates in the opposite direction of inflation.
