BANGKOK: Thailand’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged for an eighth straight meeting, warning that its forecast for economic recovery was threatened by the country’s biggest virus wave since the pandemic began.
The Bank of Thailand held the policy rate yesterday at 0.5% in a unanimous decision, as expected by all 22 economists in a Bloomberg survey.
A flareup of Covid-19 that began in Bangkok nightlife venues has spread nationwide, more than doubling Thailand’s total caseload since early April. The government tightened restrictions on May 1, likely slowing a rebound from the economy’s deepest contraction in more than two decades.
“Vaccine procurement and distribution is the hero for economic recovery. Fiscal and monetary policies play supporting roles, ” assistant…
