BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand’s cabinet on Tuesday approved Vitai Ratanakorn, a state-owned bank head and former private sector executive, to be the country’s next central bank governor.
The cabinet’s approval of the 54-year-old for the position is subject to royal assent. If endorsed, Vitai’s five-year term running the Bank of Thailand would start on October 1.
Here are some facts and background on Vitai:
– He has served as president and chief executive of the Government Savings Bank, Thailand’s largest state-owned lender, since 2020, when he was appointed by the government.
– The GSB website says Vitai has a master’s degree in finance from Drexel University in the United States, as well as master’s degrees in political economy and business law from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. He holds a BA in economics from Thammasat University.
– He was head of the Government Pension Fund, managing assets worth about 1.4 trillion baht ($43 billion), from 2018 to 2020. He also served as acting president of the Islamic Bank of Thailand in 2017-2018.
– He was chief financial officer at budget carrier Nok Air from 2011 to 2014, and was senior deputy managing director at agro-industrial conglomerate Charoen Pokphand Group in 2010.
– In a social media post earlier this month, he said he could make decisions independently and free from any group’s influence.
– Last month, he said there was a need to cut interest rates deeply to support a stagnant economy.
– Some analysts expect his appointment would improve the central bank’s relationship with the government, as Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy struggles with tepid consumption and high household debt amid global trade turmoil and renewed domestic political instability.
($1 = 32.39 baht)
(Compiled by Orathai Sriring, Thanadech Staporncharnchai and Kitiphong Thaichareon; Editing by John Mair)
