Business: Dovish Thailand seen among last to rise as Fed signals takeoff

Confronted by a subdued tourism recovery, tighter social distancing restrictions and weak domestic investor demand at a time of high bond supply, the Thai central bank is likely to allow policy rates to remain at record lows for longer, anchoring front-end yields, HSBC analysts led by Andre de Silva wrote in a recent note. The bank sees Thailand being the last among its peers to hike rates.

Thailand’s central bank is relied upon to be the rearward in Southeast Asia to lift rates, leading to one of the steepest yield bends in the area as different countries brace for the first Federal Reserve climb starting around 2018. Shorter-duration Thai bonds remain buoyed by a dovish Bank of Thailand policy that contrasts with an undeniably hawkish Fed, which on Wednesday signaled a March rate takeoff. Fed Chair Jerome Powell additionally made the way for more regular and possibly bigger climbs than expected.

Suggestion For You:
Best Free Online MP3 Cutters and Editors
Best HIMOX Air Purifier

Global funds have poured $2.7 billion into Thai debt in January so far, on pace for the highest monthly inflow since June 2016, and mostly into short-dated bonds.

For every 1 basis point flattening in the U.S. Treasury curve, the Thai sovereign bond curve has steepened by 0.3 basis point, according to a Bloomberg analysis, indicating that it’s the least susceptible in Asia to rising U.S. Treasury yields.

“The Bank of Thailand’s main concern will be the health of the overall economy, with inflation and Fed rate hikes unlikely to have a strong influence on monetary policy,” said Poon Panichpibool, a strategist at Krung Thai Bank Pcl in Bangkok. Thailand will be releasing latest January inflation figures on Feb. 4.

An increase in the Federal Reserve rate adds pressure on most Asian policy makers to respond to maintain the allure of emerging-market assets. Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are expected to raise rates this year, according to a median of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Singapore unexpectedly tightened monetary policy earlier this week.

An Indonesian central bank official on Wednesday gave further hawkish signals saying it would be preemptive with its monetary policy to temper volatility in the markets. The nation was the first in Southeast Asia to pivot toward a hawkish bent by announcing a gradual increase in banks’ reserve requirement ratio last week.

Krung Thai’s Poon expects the Thai yield curve to steepen further in the first three quarters of this year. Shorter-end yields will be weighed down by dovish rate expectations, while longer-dated yields will be propped up by bond supply pressure. He sees it possibly starting to flatten in the fourth quarter, ahead of a potential rate hike in the second half of 2023.

Disclaimer: If you need to edit or update this news from compsmag then kindly contact us Learn more