Rallies not affect foreign investment climate

BANGKOK, 29 March 2010 (NNT) – The foreign investment climate in Thailand is still positive despite street-protests by the anti-government group, according to Bank of Thailand (BoT) Govenor Tarisa Watanagase.

This is reflected by the continuous fund flow into the economy, especially in the Thai stock exchange. The stock exchange has shown continuous growth from February to March, Ms Tarisa said.

Ms Tarisa added that the political impasse would only pose a short-term effect if the protests did not drag on and were non-violent. The BoT will evaluate the situation on a daily basis, using political factors to adjust its 2010 GDP growth estimate in April.

Positive signs of an economic recovery are a continuation from last year’s growth figures in export, investment and private consumption. The low interest rate policy was now less necessary as regional interest rates had been hiked, the BoT governor said.

The Monetary Policy Committee meeting on 21 April will take domestic and global economic factors into consideration to determine the interest rate adjustment.