Thai Finance Chief Calls for Rate Cut Ahead of Central Bank Meet

Thailand’s Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira made a fresh appeal for a rate cut on Tuesday, a day before a central bank monetary policy meeting in which it’s forecast to hold borrowing costs at a decade high.

The “timing is right” for the Bank of Thailand to ease borrowing costs to help the economy, Pichai told reporters after a weekly meeting of the cabinet in Bangkok on Tuesday. A lower rate will help the country better manage capital flows and stem a rally in the baht, he said.

Pichai Chunhavajira

Photographer: Valeria Mongelli/Bloomberg

The minister said the final authority on monetary policy rests with the ...