Bangkok (VNA) – The ThaiNational Shippers' Council (TNSC) on August 12 asked the Bank of Thailand toseek ways to relieve pressure on exports as the baht continues to strengthen.

Local mediaquoted TNSC vice chairman Visit Limluecha as saying that he had discussed thematter with governor of the Bank of Thailand (BoT) Veerathai Santiprabhob. The risingbaht is hurting the competitiveness of Thai exports, he said.

He said thecouncil did not specify an appropriate level for the baht value and did not askthe central bank to interfere with its value. It only asked the BoT to relaxconditions for its soft loan programme so as to widen access to credit forsmall business operators.

Earlier thismonth, the TNSC said Thai exports may fall by as much as 15 percent if thecountry averages just 16.4 billion USD a month in the second half of 2020. TNSCchairwoman Ghanyapad Tantipipatpong said that the council looks to downgradeits shipment forecast if the overall export performance remains unimproved nextmonth.

In July, Thaishippers downgraded the country’s export outlook to a 10 percent contraction,deeper than the previous forecast of an 8 percent drop, due to the coronaviruscrisis and the strong baht.

Weakeningpurchasing power and the ailing economies of key trading partners were keycomponents in the TNSC’s export forecast cut.

The council iskeeping this year’s export forecast at a 10-percent contraction, she noted.Given a raft of negative factors, she warned that shipments may fall by 15percent if the monthly figures for the remaining months do not improve andtotal less than 17 billion USD a month.

According tothe Thai Commerce Ministry,exports tumbled 23.2 percent year-on-year in June, the weakest pace since July2009.

During thefirst half of the year, exports fell 7.1 percent from the same period last yearto 114 billion USD, while imports dropped 12.6 percent to 104 billion USD./.