Acting deputy finance minister Suchart Thadada-mrongwej, tipped to become finance minister in the new cabinet line-up, affirmed recently he would give the Bank of Thailand (BoT) a free hand to implement monetary policy if he is entrusted to take up the post.
He conceded he had been approached to assume the finance minister position and that he had agreed to accept the offer.

“I have agreed to take up the post because I am an economic specialist,” he said.
Mr. Suchart said he viewed the appropriate level the baht should stay under current circumstances is 34-35 to the US dollar.

However, he would allow the central bank to implement the monetary policy independently.
He denied news reports that insurance firms in Thailand were experiencing a liquidity crunch in the wake of the financial institutions crisis in the United States.

The deputy minister said the Committee for Supervision and Promotion of Insurance Business Operations had given assurances that insurance companies in Thailand are not in financial trouble as some media reported.

Should local insurance firms actually experience severe liquidity shortages, he added, the finance ministry and the central bank had a contingency plan to cope with the situation.–