MPC Maintains Policy Rate at 1.75%, Seeing Inflation Projection in Line with Forecast
MPC maintains the policy rate at 1.75%, assessing that the Thai economy would expand around its potential.
At the Monetary Policy Committee’s Decision 2/2019 on March 20, 2019, Mr. Titanun Mallikamas, Secretary of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), has announced that the Committee voted unanimously to maintain the policy rate at 1.75%.
The Committee assessed that the Thai economy would expand around its potential despite at a slower pace than previously assessed due to a slowdown in external demand. Nevertheless, domestic demand would continue to gain traction. Headline inflation projection was in line with the previous forecast, while core inflation would be slightly lower than previously assessed.
Overall financial conditions remained accommodative and conducive to economic growth. However, there were risks to financial stability in the future that warranted continued monitoring. The Committee viewed that the current accommodative monetary policy stance had contributed to the continuation of economic growth and was appropriate given the inflation target. In addition, given heightened global and domestic uncertainties in the current period, the Committee thus voted to keep the policy rate unchanged at this meeting to assess the clarity of impacts from such uncertainties.
