Weakening Thai baht forecast due to economic and freight cost factors

Analysts are forecasting a weakened Thai baht, the Thai currency, due to factors including poor economic performance, high freight costs, and disagreements over interest rate reductions. The baht is anticipated to fluctuate within the range of 36-36.50 to the US dollar this month.

On Wednesday, the baht recorded a decline, falling below 36 to the US dollar, and was quoted at 35.96-98 to the US dollar yesterday morning. This was in response to a slight easing of the dollar, following a minor reduction in US economic growth than initially projected at 3.3% for the last quarter of 2023, as reported by the Kasikorn Research Center, reported Bangkok Post.

However, the US economy demonstrated resilience, achieving a 2.5% growth in 2023, surpassing the 1.9% increase in 2022. The driving force behind this growth was consumer expenditure, which constitutes…