BANGKOK- Thailand’s current inflation target range of 1 percent to 3 percent has been effective in anchoring expectations and in handling price shocks, minutes of the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) Aug. 21 monetary policy meeting showed on Wednesday.
The finance minister and central bank chief will meet this month to open negotiations on an inflation target for 2025, with the government seeking a new goal as it seeks an interest rate cut.
At the Aug. 21 meeting, the monetary policy committee voted 6-1 to hold the one-day repurchase rate unchanged at 2.50 percent for a fifth consecutive meeting. One member favored a quarter-point cut.
The next rate review is due on Oct. 16.
The current inflation target range has effectively anchored medium-term inflation expectations and has been sufficiently flexible to accommodate supply-side fluctuations, such as the recent rise in global energy prices, the minutes said.
“The inflation target also helped lower inflation persistence and allow the shocks to quickly dissipate in such scenarios,” the minutes said.
Going forward, the Thai economy would face more relative price changes from supply-side fluctuations and structural factors, the minutes said.
“A flexible inflation target range, therefore, would play a crucial role in maintaining medium-term price stability”.
