BoT told not to block FDI flow | Bangkok Post: business

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) should not introduce measures to curb foreign direct investment inflow to the Thai capital market, chairman of the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organisations Paibul Narintarangkul said on Wednesday.

The central bank should allow a free-flow of foreign investment in line with capital market’s mechanism, Mr Paibul said. Once the market increases to a certain level, the foreign capital will automatically flow out.He predicted the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index could touch the 1,000 point level by the end of this year.The Thai stock market is still gaining support from the continuing foreign direct investment inflow, boosted by the fragile economic recovery in the US and the sign of slow economic expansion in China, he said.The fundamentals of the Thai capital market are strong, particularly the reports on net profits of listed companies, which were as high as 25 per cent, the highest in the world. The SET index had surged more than 200 points over the past three months, which was a very fast increase, he added.In addition, the court's ruling to allow 74 investment projects at Rayong’s Map Ta Phut industrial estate to go ahead early this month had helped restore the confidence of foreign investors. They would return to invest in the Thai stock market, especially in shares of the top 20 firms.Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) chairman Payungsak Chartsuthipol said the FTI will on Thursday or Friday call a...