Thailand cuts rate for third time as economic crisis worsens

The central bank “looks ready to use other, albeit unspecified tools, which implies other measures aside from policy easing, especially as the room for lower rates is declining, ” said Mitul Kotecha, a senior emerging markets strategist at TD Securities in Singapore.

BANGKOK: The Bank of Thailand (BoT) cut its benchmark interest rate to a fresh record low and said it was ready to use additional policy tools if needed with the economy expected to shrink further.

By a 4-3 vote, the central bank lowered the policy rate yesterday by 25 basis points to 0.5%, its third cut this year. All but three of 24 economists in a Bloomberg survey correctly predicted the decision, with the others expecting no change.