[BANGKOK] Thailand has shortlisted two candidates for the role of central bank governor, an appointment keenly watched by investors for clues to the nation’s future monetary policy trajectory.
The names have been submitted to Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira, who will make the final pick that needs to be endorsed by the Cabinet and the King, according to Pornchai Thiraveja, secretary of a seven-member independent selection panel. He did not disclose the names of shortlisted candidates.
On Tuesday (Jun 24), the panel interviewed six candidates including Sutapa Amornvivat, a former International Monetary Fund economist; Roong Mallikamas, a Bank of Thailand (BOT) deputy governor; economist Somprawin Manprasert; Vitai Ratanakorn, the president of state-owned government Savings Bank; and Bangkok Bank’s senior vice-president Kobsak Pootrakool.
The list was narrowed to two through a secret ballot among the panel members and there was no political interference, said Sathit Limpongpan, a former bureaucrat who headed the committee.
Nomura Holdings earlier this month tipped Sutapa as the “favourite” for the job, citing her “pro-growth stance” and family ties to the ruling party. Somprawin has backed his bid by advocating aggressive interest rate cuts, citing Thailand’s bleak growth outlook and subdued inflation.
The new governor will be appointed for a five-year term, and will succeed incumbent Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, who will complete his tenure on Sep 30.
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Finance Minister Pichai said on Tuesday that he wants a candidate who can “work smoothly” with the government. The challenges awaiting the new BOT chief include a sputtering economy that’s hobbled by the region’s highest household debt and the threat of a punitive 36 per cent tariff on exports to the US, its largest market.
The central bank is set to hold rate at 1.75 per cent at a meeting on Wednesday after the first back-to-back reductions in five years, according to economists.
Sethaput fiercely guarded BOT’s independence by repeatedly rejecting government calls to reduce rates and set a higher inflation target. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has called the BOT’s independence an “obstacle”, and her father, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, fired a governor in 2001.
Still, her government failed in a bid to install an ally in the supervisory role of BOT chairman, eventually settling for a consensus candidate. BLOOMBERG
