Thai central bank needed to preserve limited policy room: minutes

[BANGKOK] Thailand's central bank saw a need to preserve limited monetary policy space to use at the most effective time, when it kept its benchmark rate steady at a record low last month, meeting minutes showed on Wednesday.

On Sept 23, the Bank of Thailand's (BOT) monetary policy committee voted unanimously to leave the one-day repurchase rate at an all-time low of 0.50 per cent after cutting it three times this year.

The committee "deemed it necessary to preserve the limited policy space for the appropriate and most effective timing," the minutes said.

"The committee viewed that the record-low policy rate would facilitate the economic recovery", while a further rate cut would be less effective in the current context and could increase vulnerabilities in the financial system, it said.

REUTERS