A central bank is a public institution established to act as the center for the financial operations of a country. For Thailand, the institution that takes a role as a central bank is the Bank of Thailand (BOT). The roles and responsibilities of BOT are to print and issue banknotes and other security documents; to promote monetary stability and formulate monetary policies; to manage the BOT's assets; to provide banking facilities to the government and act as the registrar for the government bonds; to provide banking facilities for the financial institutions; to establish or support the establishment of a payment system; to supervise and examine the financial institutions; to manage the country's foreign exchange rate under the foreign exchange system and manage assets in the currency reserve according to the Currency Act; and to control the foreign exchange according to the exchange control act.

In the past two years, Thailand faced the impact of COVID-19 more severely than other Southeast Asia countries due to the effect on the tourism sector, which is a soft spot and slow recovery compared with other countries. Meanwhile, all sectors cooperated in solving problems and adapting work to the situation, resulting in Thailand overcoming the COVID-19 crisis. BOT relied on cooperation with the government and private sectors as well as listening to opinions from the public sector. As a result, BOT has rolled out the appropriate policies and measures, enhancing Thailand's economic and financial system through monetary policy implementation in order to accommodate sustainable economic growth that matches the country’s potential. Recently, central banks of many countries have started to adjust their monetary policies to normalization and accelerate to increase the interest rate in 2022 after using loosened monetary policies during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Many central banks modify their policies to achieve monetary policy goals such as price stability, economic growth, and financial stability.

In the current economic situation, the cost of living has been increasing due to inflation and rising energy prices, affecting the household sector or fragile group. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) will play a role in taking care of this fragile group. The baht depreciation is the impact of the US dollar's appreciation. Compared with other currencies, the baht remains considered moderately depreciated. Furthermore, BOT will drive and implement various policies to be flexible for Thailand.

In conclusion, I would like to support all of you to keep your business smoothly and be safe from COVID-19.

Mr.Chaiyos Sincharoenkul

President

The Thai Rubber Association