Thailand

Thailand is set to appoint former Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong as the new Bank of Thailand chairman, a sign of the government seeking to tighten its grip over the central bank with which it has sparred over monetary policy and inflation targets, Bloomberg News reported. Kittiratt, a critic of the BOT’s hawkish monetary policy and a former member of the ruling Pheu Thai party, was picked as the new chairman at a near five-hour meeting of the selection panel on Monday, according to people familiar with the matter. Thai media earlier reported that Kittiratt was selected.

Thai authorities reached a tentative agreement to keep the inflation target at 1% to 3% for next year, with the Finance Ministry pressing the central bank to take steps to spur price gains and growth in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, Bloomberg News reported. The price goal, in place since 2020, could be retained in 2025 provided the Bank of Thailand comes up with policies to push up inflation to 2%, Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira told reporters after a two-hour meeting with central bank Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput on Tuesday.

Thailand central bank’s interest rate cut last week was a “recalibration” made by policymakers and doesn’t mark the start of an easing cycle, according to Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, Bloomberg News reported. “We do not see it as the beginning of an extended easing cycle,” the governor said at the Institute of International Finance forum in Washington on Tuesday.

Thailand’s central bank has joined the ranks of monetary authorities who are easing monetary policy, surprising markets with its first rate cut in over four years to help boost the economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The decision wasn’t unanimous. The Bank of Thailand said Wednesday that its policy committee voted five to two to reduce the policy interest rate to 2.25% from 2.50%. The bank had kept its key rate at a decade-high since September last year, but has faced rising pressure to lower borrowing costs to lift an economy struggling with tepid demand.

Thailand’s Finance Ministry plans to propose a higher inflation target of 1.5%-3.5% for next year, adding pressure on the central bank to cut its key interest rate, Bloomberg News reported. The ministry is due to hold talks with the Bank of Thailand to finalize the price band later this month, the people said, asking not to be named as they aren’t authorized to discuss the information. The central bank and the Finance Ministry need to agree on the target before it’s sent to the Cabinet for approval.

Thai Airways International Pcl plans to issue new shares worth at least 42 billion baht ($1.3 billion) to creditors and other investors by December, a major step toward exiting a court-monitored debt restructuring and resumption of trading in its shares, Bloomberg News reported. The carrier will offer about 6.81 billion new shares to creditors under a debt-to-equity swap, according to its regulatory filing Monday. These stocks are priced at 2.5452 baht each, valuing the offering at 17.3 billion baht, it said.

Thai retail and property conglomerate Central Group said on Monday it will take over the operational business of Magazine zum Globus AG, which operates luxury department stores in Switzerland, Reuters reported. Globus is another piece of the fallen empire of Austrian property tycoon Rene Benko, whose sprawling Signa group folded late last year, sending shockwaves through a European property sector already beset with problems.

Thailand plans to raise government borrowing by about 8% in the fiscal year starting October to aid economic growth, Bloomberg News reported. About 1.1 trillion baht ($33 billion), or 41% of the total $78 billion, will be fresh borrowing to mainly finance the budget deficit, while the rest has been earmarked for refinancing and restructuring of existing debt. The Public Debt Management Office held a meeting with bond traders and fund managers on Monday in Bangkok.

Thailand expects less than 40 million people to sign up for its flagship digital wallet handout scheme, with the first phase set to be distributed to 14.5 million vulnerable people from Sept. 25, a finance ministry official said on Monday, Reuters reported. The government has planned to give away 450 billion baht ($13.6 billion) to 45 million people under its stimulus programme, which will see 10,000 baht ($300) transferred to each person who registers to spend in their localities within six months.