Stories tagged with exchange
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Less baht for your dollar
Tourists to Thailand this year will find themselves getting less value for their money, as the baht continues to strengthen against foreign currencies. Easing of restrictions on capital controls on March 1st are likely to accellerate this appreciate, with the baht expected to soon hit 30 to US1$. This is a 20% gain in 18 months.
The original capital controls were implemented in December 2006 to guard against speculators as the baht continued to strength. Unattractive economic factors in the US have caused investors to flood the Thai markets with money, causing a steadily improving baht to dollar exchange rate that was hurting the country’s export competitiveness.
The Thai baht has appreciated at a much stronger rate against the floundering dollar compared to other Asian currencies. The introduction of capital controls had created a dual rate with the offshore exchange rate set at 31 baht to a dollar while rates given here in Thailand were a more favourable 33.5. The two will now merge but the Bank of Thailand is expected to spend several billion baht in foreign reserves to manage the appreciation gradually.
The baht has also moved up to its strongest exchange rate against the British pound in more than five years, reaching 63 baht to £1. The net result is that monies exchanged are devalued by approximately 8% year-on-year and regular visitors will certainly notice the increased expense of their holidays.
Posted by: Andrew on 06 Mar 2008, 11:40 -
Baht at 10-year high
The Thai baht appreciated to another high against the dollar during Monday trading sessions, while exporters dumped the US dollar after concerns of the continually strengthening baht.
The baht got very close to the 33 mark, peaking at 33.03 to the dollar to make it the strongest in a decade. The baht then fell back to 33.09 after the Bank of Thailand intervened to weaken it slightly.
Exporters continued to dump the greenback despite the US government’s response to the ailing sub-prime lending crisis.
The US government’s rescue package would include between US$145-150 billion to ease the sub-prime mortgage woes, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average continued to fall on Friday.
Without the intervention of the Thai central bank on the baht movement, it would certainly have breached the 33 mark by now, which would hit Thai exporters and US tourists further.
More on costs in Thailand
Posted by: Andrew on 22 Jan 2008, 14:09 -
Baht on 10-year high against dollar
The Thai baht has appreciated to 33.13 to the US dollar as of January 14, making it the strongest it has been in the last 10 years. The continually weakening dollar coupled with the strong baht is the cause.
The Bank of Ayuthaya foreign exchange department has also predicted the baht would strengthen further against the dollar to eventually breach the 33.00 mark.
Concerns of a US economic slowdown have lead to the current US dollar weakening and the Thai baht strengthening will no doubt have an effect on the number of tourists who choose Thailand as a holiday destination this year.
According to US trade figures for November, Thailand had a trade deficit of US$6.3 billion, which is the highest figure in 14 months; the cause being an increase in imports and fuel prices.
Surprisingly, Thailand’s exports actually showed a rise of 0.4 per cent on the previous month, making it a record one-month high owing to the weaker US dollar.
However, Thailand's Stock Exchange index, along with other regional markets, continued to drop during the morning trading session.
Posted by: Andrew on 14 Jan 2008, 19:36