Thailand cuts interest rate as outbreak hurts economy

Prakash Sakpal, an economist at ING Groep NV in Singapore who expects one more rate cut this year, said: "There’s not much scope for fiscal stimulus, as the budget hasn’t even passed just yet. All the burden is on the Bank of Thailand.”

Bangkok: The Bank of Thailand cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low as the coronavirus outbreak, a stalled government budget and bad drought imperil economic growth.

The central bank lowered the policy rate by 25 basis points to 1% in a unanimous decision, the third cut in its last five meetings. Fourteen of 29 analysts in a Bloomberg survey predicted the decision, with the rest expecting no change.