The Bank of Thailand stood pat on its policy rate as widely expected Wednesday, but an additional committee member unexpectedly voted for a 25-basis point hike, reinforcing signs that the rate will increase at coming meetings for the first time since 2011.
Five members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to keep the rate steady at 1.50%, where it has been since April 2015, while two voted for a quarter-point hike, up from one vote in the past several meetings.
The committee views the accommodative monetary policy stance as conducive to the continuation of economic growth and appropriate given the inflation target; therefore, most members decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at the meeting.
