Print

Mail

wiki links

Thai central bank to lift controls on foreign investment

Thailand's central bank will lift controls on foreign investments in hedged baht-denominated bonds, mutual funds and property funds from March 15, Assistant Governor Nitaya Pibulratanagit said in a media briefing.

Central bank Governor Tarisa Watanagase said on Wednesday the currency controls imposed by the Bank of Thailand in December would be removed yesterday for overseas investors who took hedging measures to avoid profiting from the baht's fluctuations.

News the controls would end came just hours after finance minister Pridiyathorn Devakula's surprise resignation, creating a new crisis of confidence in a government whose popularity has plummeted since it took power after a coup five months ago.

The central bank is extending the implementation date to the middle of this month from yesterday because "commercial banks' custodians need time to explain the change in the rule to their customers," Suchart Sakkonkosone, director for the exchange control and credits department, told reporters at the same press conference in Bangkok yesterday.

The December restrictions triggered the stock market's steepest decline in 16 years on Dec. 19, dealing a blow to the military-backed government's credibility with investors. The central bank later removed controls on purchases of stocks and properties as well as hedged overseas borrowings.

Overseas investors must buy forward contracts with maturity of at least three months to hedge their foreign currencies brought in for investments on those securities, Nitaya said.

The central bank also renounced a rule that requires overseas investors to hold bonds for at least three months, Nitaya said.

Meanwhile, coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin and other military officials huddled with Surayud early yesterday to discuss who should replace Pridiyathorn and how to stem the political fallout.

Officials declined to say who might replace Pridiyathorn, but the head of the Export-Import Bank of Thailand, Virabongsa Ramangkura, was widely tipped in Thai media as a contender.

Thai stocks rose for the first time in five days on speculation the central bank would cut interest rates further after data showed inflation slowed.

The SET Index added 4.14, or 0.61 percent, to 681.27 in Bangkok. The measure lost 2.4 percent over the previous four sessions.

Consumer prices gained 2.3 percent last month from a year earlier as food and electricity prices declined, the Commerce Ministry reported.

That was the smallest increase since March 2004 and below the 3 percent increase reported in January.

The central bank on Wednesday cut its one-day bond repurchase rate to 4.50 percent from 4.75 percent for the second time this year. Lower borrowing costs might encourage consumers to take out loans for purchases on cars, homes and other goods.
This story has been viewed 955 times.