Bank of Thailand Slashes 'Mysterious' Financial Discrepancy by Over Half

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has significantly revised its balance of payments figures for 2024, nearly eliminating a large statistical discrepancy that had raised questions over financial flows into the country. 

The central bank announced that its "Net Errors and Omissions" (NEO) figure has plummeted from a preliminary 530 billion baht to 230 billion baht.

Dej Titivanich, the BOT's Assistant Governor for the Information System Department, explained that the revised figure is the result of a routine annual update to the balance of payments (BOP) data.

"This is a normal part of our annual process," Dej said, "not an ad-hoc adjustment because of abnormal figures." 

He added that the standard revision cycle has been in place since 2019.

The central bank attributed the substantial change to three key factors:

Lower Import Costs: The total value of imports was reduced after the Customs Department adjusted its oil import prices based on actual data provided by importers. This change improved the current account balance, reducing the NEO by approximately US$2.0 billion.

Increased Foreign Direct Investment: The BOT updated its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) data with more complete information from financial statements submitted by businesses to the Department of Business Development. This factor led to a reduction in the NEO of roughly US$2.7 billion.

Higher Trade Credit: The extension of payment terms by foreign trade creditors for imported goods reduced the debt repayment burden for the private sector in 2024. This adjustment lowered the NEO by approximately US$4.2 billion.
 

According to the BOT's procedure, preliminary annual BOP data is published in March of the following year, followed by two major revisions: one in September of that year and a final one in September of the subsequent year.