Thai central bank to raise rates 25 bps, tourism to bolster growth – Reuters poll

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By Devayani Sathyan

BENGALURU : Thailand’s central bank is expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday to curb elevated inflation and further hikes are likely even as China’s reopening brightens the economic outlook, a Reuters poll found.

Unlike its neighbours in Malaysia and Indonesia, The Bank of Thailand (BOT) is expected to keep tightening policy for awhile longer. While price pressures in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy have been cooling, inflation in December was still 5.89 per cent, well above the central bank’s 1-3 per cent target.

Twenty-one of 23 economists polled by Reuters expected the BOT to raise its benchmark one-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 1.50 per cent on Jan. 25. The remaining two forecast no change.

“Given inflation is still high and you have upcoming demand-side…