Thailand's "uneven" economic recovery cannot be fixed only by adjusting interest rates, the central bank said on Monday, hitting back at the government's calls to ease monetary policy to help revive sluggish activity. "The fact that the economy has not recovered comprehensively, these are all things that monetary policy cannot easily solve as a quick fix because many things require treatment that matches the root of the problem," Mr Piti said. His comments came after Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin last week met with central bank officials to urge them to cut the policy rate, which is at a decade-high of 2.50%. The central bank left its policy rate unchanged in November after raising it by 200 basis points since August 2022 to curb inflation. On Monday, Mr Piti said falling prices do not indicate deflation and that negative inflation is being driven by government subsidies.
