BANGKOK, March 9 – The Bank of Thailand (BoT) on Wednesday raised the policy interest rate by 0.25 per cent from 2.25 to 2.50 per cent, effective immediately, Paiboon Kittisrikangwan, BoT assistant governor said.

The surge in oil and commodity prices has resulted in increased inflationary pressure, so the monetary policy committee (MPC) acted to raise its 2011 inflation forecast by 0.5 percentage points from 2.5-4.5 per cent to 3.0-5.0 per cent, he said.

MCOT