Bank of Thailand (BoT) Assistant Governor Suchada Kirakul on Tuesday downplayed mounting concerns over the continued strengthening of the baht, saying the situation would not affect the export competitiveness because the currency had appreciated in the same direction with other currencies in the region.

Since early this year, she said, the Malaysian ringgit had strengthened most by 3.3 per cent, followed by the Thai baht by 3.18 per cent, the Indonesian rupiah by 3.17 per cent, and the Korean won by 2.68 per cent.

From early March until now, the baht had risen by 2.23 per cent, the fourth after the ringgit by 2.6 per cent, the rupiah by 2.5 per cent and the Korean won by 2.3 per cent.

Mrs. Suchada said the baht had appreciated because foreign investors had shifted their investment from low-risk assets to high-risk assets, particularly Asian stock markets including Thai bourse, as they believed the global economy had recovered markedly.

via BoT shrugs off impact of baht rise on exports.