Office sees little impact from outlook demotion

Moody's downgrade of Thailand's outlook from stable to negative is unlikely to affect the country’s financial or capital markets, says the chief of the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO).

- WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI

On the contrary, the government's auction of 50-year bonds on April 29, worth 7 billion baht, saw demand exceed supply by 2.18 times — equivalent to about 15 billion baht.

As a result, the interest rate on this bond issuance was 1.4 basis points lower than the market rate, said Patchara Anuntasilpa, director-general of the PDMO.

For the first four months this year, the government has issued bonds worth 70 billion baht. Yesterday alone, 3 billion baht worth of bonds were issued.

There has been no sell-off of government bonds, with additional purchases being made, he said.

“The financial and capital markets were not affected by the outlook revision,” said Mr Patchara.

However, the finance minister is considering measures to cushion any potential volatility that may arise, he said.