The weaker baht has been allowing Thailand to export more goods even as industries that rely on imports are being negatively impacted. As of Monday (June 13th), the Thai baht traded at 34.81 against the US dollar.
Industry Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit made the announcement, citing information from the Office of Industrial Economics (OIE).
The minister noted that businesses which rely heavily on imports will especially feel the impact of the weakened Thai baht. He also suggested that operators exercise caution when dealing with exchange rates, adding that they should carefully manage their resources.
Macroeconomic models indicate that a further baht depreciation of 5% will actually increase Thai Real GDP (RGDP) by 0.4%, and bump industrial sector RGDP by 0.35%. It will also help expand the export and import sectors by 2.14% and 1.94%, respectively.
Private consumption and investment are meanwhile projected to increase by 0.21% and 0.31%, respectively, with the 5% depreciation also expected to cause inflation to rise by 0.57%.