Treasury assesses manipulation
A man walks past a foreign exchange house, with vinyl featuring dollar bills on its door and walls, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on Feb 10. (Photo: Reuters)
Thailand is likely to be removed from the US Treasury's Currency Monitoring List in the next review after meeting only one of the three assessment criteria, while the Bank of Thailand continues to manage the exchange rate primarily to maintain orderly market conditions rather than to gain a trade advantage, says Kasikorn Research Center (K-Research).Thailand's current account surplus is expected to remain below the US threshold, according to the think tank.
The US Treasury kept Thailand on its list in its latest semi-annual report, unchanged from the previous review. Nine other economies remained on the list: China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Germany, Ireland and Switzerland.
Thailand's assessment improved, only ticking one of the criteria instead of two after its current account surplus dropped below 3% of GDP. The country's bilateral trade surplus with the US, however, remained above the US benchmark.
