The Bank of Thailand (BoT) kept its key interest rate unchanged at a meeting on August 21 as widely expected, despite a sluggish economy and uncertain fiscal policy after the Constitutional Court removed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office last week.

The central bank (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)) of the Philippines kept its key interest rates unchanged on June 24 in the context that it is striving to maintain suitable monetary policy for helping the national economy recover.

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) last week decided to keep key interest rate unchanged at a record low for a second straight meeting, as widely expected, on signs of improvement in the economy after the easing of measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

Malaysia's central bank cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 2 percent on May 5, its lowest since 2009, to help the country’s economy weather the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The central bank’s decision to lower refinance rate shows that the bank is ready to provide lower-cost capital sources for commercial banks, enabling them to restructure debts to provide new loans.

Malaysia’s central bank on March 3 cut its key interest rate to the lowest in 20 years at 2.5 percent, with the aim to support the economy.