Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin discussed economic matters with Bank of Thailand (BOT) Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput at Government House over coffee.
The closed-door meeting, which lasted over 30 minutes, came after both sides disagreed over how to implement certain monetary measures to prop up the Thai economy, including the government’s plan to hand out 10,000 baht in digital money to people aged 16 and above.
“The prime minister and the BOT governor discussed tackling debt in the system. The government recently started dealing with debt from illegal lending. The prime minister gave a homework to the central bank governor about how to deal with household debt,” the source said.
Thailand’s household debt reached 16.1 trillion baht in the second quarter of last year, accounting for 90.7% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), according to central bank data.
The source said that the matters discussed between Srettha and Sethaput included updates on monetary policies, policy interest rates, and household debt.
The central bank governor reported to the prime minister about the BOT’s policy interest rates. The source said that PM Srettha, who doubles as the finance minister, did not attempt to intervene in the matter as he was aware of the central bank’s autonomy.
The prime minister told the BOT governor that people he met during provincial trips often complained about their debt, according to the source. “The prime minister shared the information about the debt problem, as the central bank may not have met with the people,” the source said.
