Thailand Unexpectedly Holds Rate After Emergency Declared

Thailand unexpectedly held its key interest rate, even as it cut its economic growth forecast after Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday declared a state of emergency in Bangkok to control anti-government protests.

The Bank of Thailand kept its one-day bond repurchase rate unchanged at 2.25 percent, with monetary policy committee members voting four-to-three in favor of the decision, it said in Nakhon Pathom province today. Seven out of 21 economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted the outcome, while the remainder expected the rate to be cut by a quarter of a percentage point.