BANGKOK, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's central bank kept its key interest rate steady for a third successive meeting on Wednesday as policymakers viewed the current accommodative stance as appropriate to support economic recovery.
The Bank of Thailand's monetary policy committee voted unanimously to hold the one-day repurchase rate unchanged at 1 percent, maintaining borrowing costs at their lowest level since September 2022.
Thai economic growth continued to draw momentum from the global technology and artificial intelligence (AI) investment cycle, but the expansion remained low and unevenly distributed across sectors, said Don Nakornthab, secretary of the policy committee.
Don said the country's economic growth outlook was broadly in line with its previous assessment of 2.3 percent in 2026 and 1.8 percent in 2027, supported by faster-than-expected merchandise export and private investment expansions.
Meanwhile, private consumption has grown more slowly than anticipated as households remained cautious in their spending amid elevated living costs, he told a news conference.
He said headline inflation for 2026 and 2027 is projected to run below the previous forecast, mainly on softer global energy prices, while core inflation was revised down slightly on weaker-than-expected cost pass-through.
However, the committee expects headline inflation to rise through the first quarter of 2027, reflecting El Nino-related effects and the gradual pass-through of costs to consumers, before easing back to low levels due to base effects and soft domestic demand amid below-potential growth.
The central bank flagged that Middle East tensions have kept commodity and energy markets volatile and could push oil-linked prices higher again should the situation escalate and said it would continue to track firms' cost pass-through behavior and medium-term inflation expectations closely.
In a statement, it also noted that monetary easing is being paired with fiscal and targeted financial-sector measures, including debt relief and liquidity programs for small businesses, aimed at cushioning the economy in the near term while addressing structural issues. ■
