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Published on March 8, 2008

On Feb 29, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) lifted its 14-month-old capital controls.

Gross international reserves, which are currently less than the net international reserves, amounted to $100.5 billion as of Feb 29 due to the central bank's intervention in the market to rein in the baht.

The net reserves have risen sharply because of the BOT's unwinding position of swap agreements to manage liquidity. It bought back the US dollar and sold the baht to counter upward pressures, causing the net forward position to drop to $23.3 billion, from $24.1 billion in the previous quarter.

The rising reserves also resulted from valuation change as the euro, a main component of currencies in the BOT's portfolio, has appreciated against the dollar, says a market source.

Anoma Srisukkasem

The Nation