Thai ex-executive Pichai named finance minister, faces growth challenge By Reuters

By Orathai Sriring

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thai former vitality govt Pichai Chunhavajira was named the nation’s finance minister on Sunday, dealing with a tricky process to revive Southeast Asia’s second-largest financial system.

Pichai, 75, an adviser to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, takes over from Srettha as finance minister and turns into deputy prime minister, the official Royal Gazette mentioned, saying his appointment by the king.

Pichai was the chair of the board of Bangchak Corp since 2012. He headed the board of the Inventory Change of Thailand for lower than three months this 12 months and was on the central financial institution board from 2014 to 2017.

Lagging its regional friends, the Thai financial system faces excessive family debt and borrowing prices, in addition to China’s slowdown.

Gross home product unexpectedly shrank within the remaining quarter of 2023 from the third, whereas progress final 12 months slowed to 1.9% from 2.5% in 2022. The state planning company in February reduce its 2024 progress forecast to between 2.2% and three.2% from a earlier 2.7%-3.7% projection.

Pichai will oversee insurance policies together with Srettha’s flagship 500 billion baht ($14 billion) handout scheme, which might switch 10,000 baht ($270) to every of fifty million Thais to spend of their communities.

The controversial stimulus has been delayed to late 2024 attributable to a scarcity of funding and issues concerning the affect on public debt, with economists and a few former central financial institution governors criticising it as fiscally irresponsible.

The federal government, rejecting that criticism, is forging forward with the scheme, though the central financial institution recommends or not it’s focused solely in direction of weak teams.

Srettha, an actual property mogul and political newcomer, has been finance minister since taking workplace final 12 months.

He has been at loggerheads with the Financial institution of Thailand over the course of financial coverage, repeatedly asking it to chop charges to assist an financial system he describes as at a “vital” stage.

The central financial institution has resisted that stress, leaving its key rate of interest unchanged at 2.5%, the very best in additional than a decade, for a 3rd straight assembly in April. Its subsequent charge evaluation is on June 12.

Analysts mentioned Pichai’s seniority and political and financial information ought to assist coverage coordination with the central financial institution.

Pichai holds a grasp’s diploma in enterprise administration from Indiana College of Pennsylvania and in addition served as director at PTT Exploration (OTC:) and Manufacturing from 2001 to 2013.

($1 = 36.96 baht)