BANGKOK -- Thailand’s central bank held its key interest rate near a record low to support economic growth that’s lagging peers in Southeast Asia.
The one-day bond repurchase rate was left at 1.5%, with monetary policy committee members voting unanimously in favour, the Bank of Thailand said in Bangkok on Wednesday. All 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted the decision.
Three years after the military seized power, Thailand’s economic expansion is trailing others in Southeast Asia, with the World Bank forecasting it will post the weakest growth among eight developing nations in the region. The central bank has kept rates steady since 2015, refraining from easing policy despite muted inflation pressures and calls by the International Monetary Fund to spur flagging consumption and investment. Economists predict the benchmark rate will be unchanged until the third quarter of 2018.
Consumer prices rose 0.4% in April from a year earlier, the slowest pace in five months. The central bank aims to keep average inflation in a range of 1% to 4% this year.