Emerging Market Bid Is So Hot Thailand Faces U.S. Watchlist Risk
- ANZ sees risk the U.S. will put Thailand on monitoring list
- BOT’s move to cut bill supply won’t work, Krung Thai Bank says
An employee places a bundle of Thai 1,000 baht banknotes in a money counting machine in an arranged photograph at the Krung Thai Bank Pcl (KTB) headquarters branch in Bangkok, Thailand, on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. KTB, Thailand's second-largest lender by assets, is cleaning up its balance sheet and preparing to make acquisitions in a bid to join the ranks of the biggest Southeast Asian banks.
Photographer: Brent Lewin/BloombergThailand is no stranger when it comes to hot money. This time around, officials have a new dynamic to worry about when it comes to cooling inflows from abroad: Donald Trump.
The Southeast Asian nation has seen $3.42 billion flood in this year, an influx that’s driven the baht to its highest since mid-2015. The problem is that any overt steps to curb gains in the exchange rate could draw the attention of Trump administration officials probing trading partners for measures that contribute to U.S. trade deficits.