Thai central bank, finance ministry to hold briefing on baht on Tuesday

Thailand's central bank chief, the finance ministry and the Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a briefing on the baht at 0630 GMT on Tuesday, the finance ministry said, following a surge in the currency.

The baht has gained 10% against the dollar so far this year to become Asia's best performing currency. It has now reached its highest level against the dollar in more than four years.

The baht traded at 31.16 per dollar after the plan to hold the briefing was announced, down from around 31.05 earlier.

The central bank said earlier that it had moved to contain the rapid gains in the baht, ordering tighter scrutiny of foreign exchange transactions linked to gold trading and instructing commercial banks to closely monitor foreign currency inflows.

Earlier, Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said the baht was too strong and was hurting Thailand's economy.

Last week, the central bank called on the finance ministry to control gold trading, saying gold trading flows had a significant impact on currency movements.

On Monday, it said in a statement that it had held a meeting with gold traders to explain new guidelines that require them to provide detailed transaction data to the central bank, including trades conducted via online platforms.

The reporting, which will be mandatory for gold traders with an average annual trading value of at least 10 billion baht ($321 million) over the past five years, is designed to help the bank assess measures to mitigate the impact of gold trading on the currency, it said on its website.

Traders will also need to retain related transaction documents for inspection by the regulator, the central bank said.

($1 = 31.15 baht)

-Orathai Sriring and Thanadech Staporncharnchai/Reuters