Central bank prepares 283 bn THB in banknotes for Songkran

BANGKOK, 6 April 2010 (NNT) – The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has prepared banknotes worth 283.0 billion THB to meet with the public demand during the upcoming 2010 Thai traditional New Year festival of Songkran.

According to Assistant Governor in charge of the Banknote Management Group , Chittima Duriyaprapan, out of the prepared cash, 239.6 billion THB are in new banknotes. The rest worth 43.4 billion THB are old ones. The banknotes will be put into circulation from 1 to 16 April 2010.

The cash amount spared in 2010 are smaller than that of 2009 by 5.67% or 17.6 billion THB. The BoT in 2009 prepared banknotes worth 300 billion THB.

Ms Chittima stated that the reduction was not related with the current political tension. She said the BoT last year prepared more banknotes due to the implementation of the 2,000 THB-cheque for low income earners scheme of the government.

However, the BoT assistant governor admitted that the ongoing political situation has affected the national tourism sector which already reported decreased earnings.