Bank of Thailand lowers growth and current account forecasts

BANGKOK -- The Bank of Thailand (BoT) today kept its policy rate unchanged at 0.50% in an unanimous decision, as widely expected, lowering its growth forecasts slightly but slashing its current account surplus projection for 2021 materially.

ANZ Bank says the policy messaging has stayed consistent - that the BoT views Government stimulus and policy coordination as critical drivers of the recovery, and stands ready to deploy additional monetary policy tools if necessary.

"We remain of the view that the BoT's rate cutting cycle is over, and that its current focus is on improving policy effectiveness," ANZ says. www.live.anz.com (ATI).