BANGKOK, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged on Wednesday to maintain policy flexibility amid growing economic uncertainty ahead.
The Bank of Thailand's monetary policy committee voted unanimously to hold the one-day repurchase rate at 2.25 percent at its final meeting of 2024, after slashing the benchmark rate by 25 basis points at its previous meeting in October.
Despite repeated calls from the government to lower borrowing costs in order to shore up a sluggish economy and ease the burden on debtors, the central bank only cut its policy interest rate once this year.
The current policy rate remained consistent with the economic trajectory and inflation, which was moving towards its target range of 1 percent to 3 percent, along with the maintenance of long-term economic and financial stability, the central bank said in a statement.
With tourism and domestic demand continuing to be key drivers, coupled with recovering exports of electronics and machinery, the central bank maintains its forecast of 2.7-percent GDP (gross domestic product) growth for 2024 and 2.9-percent expansion in 2025, said secretary of the policy committee Sakkapop Panyanukul.
However, the economic recovery has been uneven across sectors. While tourism-related services have improved, the recovery for small and medium enterprises and certain manufacturing industries has struggled with declining competitiveness, Sakkapop told a news conference.
The central bank projects the Southeast Asian country's headline inflation to stand at 0.4 percent in 2024 and 1.1 percent in 2025. ■