Thai central bank holds key rate at record low, as expected

Thailand's central bank left its key interest rate steady for a 13th straight meeting on Wednesday as it sought to maintain support for the pandemic-hit economy, while it slightly upgraded its growth outlook for this year.

The Bank of Thailand's (BOT) monetary policy committee unanimously voted to hold the one-day repurchase rate at a record low of 0.50 per cent at its final review of the year.

All 22 economists in a Reuters poll had expected the BOT to stay on hold this week.

The BOT slightly raised its 2021 economic growth forecast to 0.9 per cent versus the 0.7 per cent projected in September. It slightly decreased its 2022 growth estimate to 3.4 per cent from 3.9 per cent previously.