Thailand's newly elected Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said Friday that he expects the finance ministry and the central bank to lift tough currency controls next week. "We politicians, we think it doesn't do good to the country," Samak said of the exchange controls.
"As far as I have heard from the minister of finance, he says that it will be removed," Samak told a briefing for foreign media. Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee said Thursday that he would meet the central bank next week to consider lifting the controls imposed by the previous military regime in a bid to halt the baht's rapid rise against the dollar.
The controls spooked foreign investors and caused the biggest one-day drop in the Thai stock market in late 2006, with losses worth 23 billion dollars. Many exemptions have since been made to the currency rules, including some just this week, but the general policy remains in place.
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