Will Sethaput meet the fate of BOT governors defying the government?

Bank of Thailand (BOT) Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput is yielding no ground in his face-off with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin over the central bank’s interest rate policy.

Against the backdrop of slowing economic growth, Srettha wants the BOT to lower the interest rate from the current 2.5 per cent per annum, the highest in nearly a decade.

The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has turned a deaf ear to the government’s exhortations and left the rate unchanged at its two previous meetings.

The MPC is scheduled to hold its next meeting in April. Srettha, however, wants the MPC to call an emergency meeting to lower the rate.

His call came after the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), a state think-tank, released a report on the gross domestic product in 2023: GDP grew by only 1.9 per cent, well below expectations and slower than the 2.5…