Lord Toad Posted September 3, 2008 Report Share Posted September 3, 2008 I have not seen this on the Thai press! Bank steps in to support the baht as Thailand plagued by political unrest Thailand's central bank has been forced to intervene in the foreign exchange market to support the country's currency, the baht. Emergency rule was declared in the capital Bangkok following a week of anti-government protests. It is the worst political violence in Thailand in a decade and has left one dead and many injured. As a result, the currency fell to its lowest level in more than a year and shares dropped to a 19-month low as investors fled to the safety of government bonds. The Bank of Thailand said the domestic currency had slipped during morning trading after the prime minister Samak Sundaravej invoked the emergency decree. The People's Alliance for Democracy is seeking Mr Samak's resignation. "The announcement has caused the baht to weaken and be volatile, so we had to step in and support the baht this morning," said deputy governor Atchana Waiquamdee. She said the economy would doubtless be affected by the ongoing political turmoil in the capital but could not predict to what extent until the situation had unfolded further. The dollar was trading at 34.47 baht, compared with a close on Monday of 34.32, and traders expect it to weaken further. The currency fell 2.1pc last month. "This is not helping the Thai baht," Thomas Harr, a senior currency strategist at Standard Chartered in Singapore told Bloomberg. Finance minister Surapong Suebwonglee said last week that growth may ease to 5.5pc in the second half of the year because of a slowdown in exports. The economy grew 5.7pc in the first half. The violence has raised the probability of a negative action on the country's credit ratings, Standard & Poor's credit analyst Kim Eng Tan said in a report. The debt is rated BBB+, the eighth highest investment rating, with a stable outlook. S&P said economic growth could fall markedly and it was likely that tourism and foreign investment would decline. Sorry I now see a post but this is more. From the Telegraph (UK) Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faustian Posted September 3, 2008 Report Share Posted September 3, 2008 Amazing how a British paper doesn't mention the pound. Anyone got a figure on how the pounds doing? Was 63 or so I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickman Posted September 3, 2008 Report Share Posted September 3, 2008 You can see how the pound is doing here. http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/web+services/Rates/FX+Rates.htm Currently you'll get about 60 baht for every pound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faustian Posted September 3, 2008 Report Share Posted September 3, 2008 Thanks, but holy cow that's bad! The UK is in trouble economically for sure, so I guess that outweighs political instability....it was at 67 not long ago. That's some drop in a few weeks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Toad Posted September 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2008 Wrong it was also full of gloom and doom on the pound. We have a crap government with little or no good news anywhere in sight, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted September 3, 2008 Report Share Posted September 3, 2008 So does most of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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