Baht being squeezed by Covid crisis, slow vaccine distribution’
The baht opened at 32.03 to the US dollar on Thursday, unchanged from Wednesday’s closing rate.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 31.95 and 32.10 during the day, Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool said.
The most important factor influencing the direction of the baht is the Covid-19 situation in Thailand and in other countries, Poon pointed out.
He added that the US economy is recovering and market players are tending to hold more dollars, leading to a strengthening of the US currency.
Poon also noted that Thailand’s vaccine distribution is still not rolling along smoothly, and the Covid-19 crisis in the country has not eased yet. This has led to foreign investors offloading more of their Thai assets, especially stocks, inevitably pressuring the baht to weaken.
He predicted that the Thai currency would weaken to 32.50 per US dollar at the maximum.
