The baht depreciated to its lowest level in seven months on Thursday morning (January 30), touching Bt31.17 to the US dollar, down from Wednesday’s close of Bt31, Kangana Chockpisansin, senior analyst at Kasikorn Research Centre, said.
Investors are worried about the impact of China’s virus outbreak, leading to sales of the baht.
The research house said that other currencies in the Asian region also had weakened along with the baht. Sales of Thai shares by foreign investors are also attributed to the weakening of the baht, Kasikorn Research said, predicting the baht would move in a range of Bt31 to 31.20 against the greenback.
The impact of the coronavirus outbreak is seen as cutting into Thailand’s current account surplus which in recent years had resulted in a relatively large surplus and pushed up the baht. This had caused concern among exporters who blamed the stronger baht for the slump in exports.
(Source: – The Nation)