Policy headache in Thailand, Korea’s election

Inflation has become a major policy headache for the Bank of Thailand after figures released today showed that the headline rate surged to a 14-year high in February. Given the weakness of the economy, we think the central bank will “look through” a period of higher inflation and concentrate on supporting the recovery. We are sticking with our view that interest rates will remain unchanged this year. Meanwhile, Korea’s presidential election takes place on Wednesday. The lead candidates would take Korea down two different paths, and the result could have significant implications for the economy and financial markets. Drop-In (8 March, 08:00 GMT/16:00 SGT): The Korean presidential election offers voters starkly different choices for the country’s economic future. We’re discussing the outlook, plus the policy and market response, in this 20-minute briefing on Tuesday. Register here.