Thailand to appoint former energy executive Pichai as its new finance minister, sources say
BANGKOK (Reuuters): Thailand will name former corporate energy executive and central bank board member Pichai Chunhavajira as its new finance minister, taking over the role from Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, two government sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Pichai, 75, who has been Srettha's advisor, on Thursday resigned as both chair of the board of Bangchak Corporation a post he held since 2012, and the board of the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

The government sources declined to be identified because they were not authorised to speak to media on the issue.

A government spokesperson declined to comment and Pichai could not immediately be reached.

If confirmed as finance minister, he would face a tough task of reviving Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, which lags regional peers, as it faces high household debt and borrowing costs as well as China's slowdown.

Thailand's economy unexpectedly shrank in the final quarter of 2023 from the third, while last year's growth was 1.9%, below the 2.5% growth in 2022.

The state planning agency in February lowered its 2024 economic growth outlook to between 2.2% and 3.2% from a previous forecast of 2.7% to 3.7%.

Pichai would be tasked with overseeing key government policies, including Srettha's flagship 500 billion baht ($13.5 billion) handout scheme, which would transfer 10,000 baht ($270) to each of 50 million Thais to spend in their communities.

The stimulus has been delayed to late 2024 due to a lack of funding and concerns about the impact on public debt, with economists and some former central bank governors criticising it as fiscally irresponsible.

The government has rejected that and is forging ahead with the scheme, despite the central bank recommending it be targeted only towards vulnerable groups.

Srettha, a real estate mogal and political newcomer, has held the post of finance minister since taking office last year.

He has been at loggerheads with the Bank of Thailand (BOT) over the direction of monetary policy, repeatedly asking the central bank to cut rates to help an economy he describes as at a "critical" stage.

The central bank has resisted that pressure and left its key interest rate unchanged at 2.50%, the highest in more than a decade, for a third straight meeting in April. The next rate review is on June 12.

Analysts have said changing finance minister might do little to ease tension between the government and the BOT over monetary policy, however.

Pichai holds a master's degree in business administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He was a board member of the Bank of Thailand from 2014 to 2017, and a director at PTT Exploration and Production from 2001 to 2013.

(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat, Orathai Sriring and Satawasin Stapornchanchai; Editing by Martin Petty) - Reuters
Thailand,Pichai,new Finance Minister
Thailand will name former corporate energy executive and central bank board member Pichai Chunhavajira as its new finance minister, taking over the role from Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, two government sources told Reuters on Thursday.