ID :
145336
Sat, 10/09/2010 - 11:35
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/145336
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Finance minister to call on economic powers to jointly address currency woes
WASHINGTON, Oct 9 – Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij on Friday said he would use the annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) being held here October 8-9 as a platform from which to call on the world’s economic powers to discuss ways to cope with the volatile currency exchange rate for the benefit of the global economy.
Interviewed in Washington, DC, the American capital, where he and Bank of Thailand (BoT) Governor Prasarn Trairattanavorakul are attending the annual World Bank and IMF meeting, he said should such global economic powers as the US, Europe, China and Japan opt to find ways to protect their currencies separately, the global economy would be in trouble in the long run and small countries including Thailand would be adversely affected.
Mr Korn said he and Mr Prasarn wanted the economic powers to turn to each other and negotiate an agreement similar to the Plaza Accord reached in the US in 1985.
With the effect of the accord, the Japanese yen, which surged to 240 to the US dollar then, weakened to 120 to the dollar. It enabled Japan to expand investment to countries with lower production costs, resulting in the Japanese economy and global economy reviving later.
He said that currency fluctuation is considered a hot issue which the world community is paying attention to now. Unless the economic powers make a coordinated effort to cope with it, the global economy would be put in great difficulty.
The Thai baht is likely to continue to appreciate against the US dollar he said, because the Thai economy expanded up to 10.6 per cent in the first half of this year, trade and current account balances were in abundant surplus, and unemployment was less than 1 per cent while the US economy slowed down, trade and current accounts were in deficit, and unemployment reached 10 per cent.
However, the Thai central bank attempted to intervene in the baht movement to ensure the currency is not too volatile. However, the move could help slow the baht appreciation only for a time.
Regarding proposed measures to control foreign capital inflow, he said the matter is considered a sensitive issue. The finance ministry and the central bank must be very cautious if they were to affect the measures. (MCOT online news)
Interviewed in Washington, DC, the American capital, where he and Bank of Thailand (BoT) Governor Prasarn Trairattanavorakul are attending the annual World Bank and IMF meeting, he said should such global economic powers as the US, Europe, China and Japan opt to find ways to protect their currencies separately, the global economy would be in trouble in the long run and small countries including Thailand would be adversely affected.
Mr Korn said he and Mr Prasarn wanted the economic powers to turn to each other and negotiate an agreement similar to the Plaza Accord reached in the US in 1985.
With the effect of the accord, the Japanese yen, which surged to 240 to the US dollar then, weakened to 120 to the dollar. It enabled Japan to expand investment to countries with lower production costs, resulting in the Japanese economy and global economy reviving later.
He said that currency fluctuation is considered a hot issue which the world community is paying attention to now. Unless the economic powers make a coordinated effort to cope with it, the global economy would be put in great difficulty.
The Thai baht is likely to continue to appreciate against the US dollar he said, because the Thai economy expanded up to 10.6 per cent in the first half of this year, trade and current account balances were in abundant surplus, and unemployment was less than 1 per cent while the US economy slowed down, trade and current accounts were in deficit, and unemployment reached 10 per cent.
However, the Thai central bank attempted to intervene in the baht movement to ensure the currency is not too volatile. However, the move could help slow the baht appreciation only for a time.
Regarding proposed measures to control foreign capital inflow, he said the matter is considered a sensitive issue. The finance ministry and the central bank must be very cautious if they were to affect the measures. (MCOT online news)
