The national bank of the Lao PDR last week injected more Thai currency into the economy in response to the current appreciation of the Thai baht against the Lao kip, which has created hardship for most Lao consumers as well as importers.
Lao officials say the move was to prevent black-market speculation and to scuttle the continued devaluation of the kip, which had gone from around 260 Kips to a baht last year to 285 kip now.
Meanwhile, Thai authorities are considering ways to stop the baht's appreciation, which has created problems for Thai exporters. However, Thailand's Prime Minister Surayud Chulanond says the strengthening of the baht value will not lead to a financial crisis because Thailand has a large foreign reserve of more than 73,000 million U.S. dollars.
Listen to our Laos Today for further details.