BANGKOK: Thailand has not intervened in the baht for any competitive trade advantage and its foreign exchange transactions have been in line with rapid capital movements, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) said on Thursday.
The comments came after a media report and what the BOT referred to as speculation that Thailand could be added to a US watch list for currency manipulation, along with Taiwan.
“The BOT does not manage the currency for the purpose of gaining unfair competitive advantage over its trading partners,” assistant governor Chantavarn Sucharitakul said in a statement.
“Moreover, intervention has been two-way, depending on the intensity of the capital flows,” she said, adding the baht has also been moving both ways.
The baht eased to 31.65 per US dollar on Thursday morning after hitting a week high of 31.50 on Wednesday.
The BOT had worked closely with the US Department of the Treasury to promote better understanding of the BOT exchange rate management, Chantavarn said.
Bilateral discussions had focused on the global developments of financial flows, Thailand’s declining current account surplus, and efforts to promote more balanced capital flows in support of sustainable economic growth, she added. – July 23, 2020, Reuters
