The selection committee’s recent decision to name former finance minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong as chairman of the board of the Bank of Thailand is expected to be considered at the meeting of the mobile cabinet in Chiang Mai this Friday.
Finance Permanent Secretary Lavaron Saengsanit said that Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira had approved the selection committee’s decision and had forwarded it to the Secretariat of the Cabinet, with the likelihood that it would be added to the cabinet’s meeting agenda.
Hundreds of academics and former staff of the central bank, including four former governors, have expressed concerns that the appointment would enable political interference in the affairs of the central bank, which would threaten the bank’s independence, as Kittiratt is seen as being closely connected to the ruling Pheu Thai party.
Kittiratt served as deputy prime minister and finance minister in the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. He also served as economic advisory chief of former prime minister Srettha Thavisin.
Meanwhile, an informed source in the Finance Ministry said that there is a change in the proposed “resourceful person” to sit on the central bank board, from Pongpanu Sawetroon, former permanent secretary of tourism and sports, to Pornanong Budsaratragoon, secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The source noted that Pongpanu is not qualified to sit on the board because he has not resigned from his position on the board of a private firm.
