Against the backdrop of a bumpy economic recovery, the government and the central bank don’t seem to be seeing eye to eye over monetary policy.
Recently, in a post on his personal Facebook page, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin complained that the Bank of Thailand (BOT) had raised the interest rate too high at a time of slower economic growth, which was hurting people’s welfare and small businesses.
Other prominent members of the Pheu Thai Party also blamed monetary policy for not facilitating economic recovery. They see the economy as moving in slow motion, offering the analogy of a frog in a pot of water being gradually heated, which realizes too late that it was in hot water.
Fear of government interference
The current policy rate of 2.5 per cent per annum is the highest in a long time. Critics, meanwhile, are worried that the government appeared to be signalling its…
