BOT to hold further talks with banks after ministry mulls fee options
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Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul plans to have a further discussion with commercial banks after the Finance Ministry decides on the central bank's proposed options for additional fees to be imposed on them.
The ministry hopes to reach a decision in the next two weeks, and the Bt1.14-billion Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) debt overhang from the 1997 Asian financial crisis is subsequently expected to be cleared within 25 years, he said.
The ministry is considering the central bank’s proposals on the additional fees to be paid to the Deposit Protection Agency (DPA) in accordance with a recent executive decree. The decree authorises such a move to clear the FIDF’s debt.
“We have proposed several options to the deputy prime minister [Kittiratt Na-Ranong, also finance minister]. He should be given time to ponder the options, and their advantages and disadvantages,” Prasarn said.
There has also been discussion on the unequal treatment of commercial banks and state-run specialised financial institutions in regard to the proposed contributions to the DPA, as well as on the Monetary Policy Committee’s concern about their impact on monetary-policy effectiveness, he added.
In response to a question about the Democrat Party’s filing of a request to the Constitution Court to interpret the executive decree, the BOT chief said it was up to the court to decide whether to accept the request.
“We have to continue working” while awaiting the court’s decision, he said.
