COVID-19 Pandemic: Impact on Thai Baht Exchange Rate

This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on exchange rates of the top ten currencies according to their trading value with Thailand by employing a regression analysis. Data includes daily number of COVID-19 cases - confirmed, new, deaths - and exchange rates against Thai Baht - CNY, JPY, USD, MYR, SGD, VND, IDR, AUD, HKD, TWD - which cover the period from January 2, 2020 to December 15, 2020. Results show that the confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Thailand relate to changes in all exchange rates; CNY, MYR, SGD, VND, AUD, and TWD have depreciated in relation to the THB, whereas JPY, USD, IDR, and HKD have appreciated. Furthermore, the new cases and deaths of COVID-19 have similar associations with almost all exchange rates. Deprecation of the JPY, USD, VND, HKD, and TWD in relation to the THE is due to new cases, on the contrary the MYR, IDR, and AUD have appreciated. Likewise, the JPY, USD, VND, and HKD have depreciated, but the CNY, MYR, SGD, and AUD have appreciated in relation to the THB owing to deaths cases. The study findings provide useful knowledge to manage an exchange rate risk for business and could help policymakers to improve the efficiency of exchange rate.