Last week the Bank of Thailand (BOT) announced that it would keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 3.00%. This follows 25-bp cuts each in November and January previously.

Now I’ve mentioned this before, the BOT will not increase interest rates UNTIL they see the economic figures for Thailand improving and this will not be the case until 4Q12 as that is when the economy will show a YoY recovery from the Thai floods last year. The only “If statement” would be if inflation creeps up higher within the next few months as a function of increasing commodity prices, increased wages or a combination of the two.

See below for pretty charts.