Banks Likely to Cut Interest Rates

Thai Chamber of Commerce chairman Pramon Sutivong said on Sunday that he believed commercial banks will lower their interest rates, following the sharp interest rate cut by the Bank of Thailand (BoT)'s Monetary Policy Committee.

The Monetary Policy Committee last Wednesday slashed its interest rate policy to two per cent, or 0.75 per cent lower, in a bid to revitalise the economy.

According to Mr Pramon, commercial banks would certainly drop their interest rates, but the implementation may take some time depending on their readiness.

He said depositors may not be happy after the Government Housing Bank (GHB) cut its loan interest rate by 0.25 per cent while its deposit interest rate was lowered by 0.50 per cent because the changes were not consistent.

The interest rate adjustments would depend on the market conditions, he concluded.