the past 7 years, we have 5 governors including the present one who has been in office for just over 1 year. however, it is important to note as well that sometimes the relationship between minister of finance and governor of a central bank turned sour not because of policy conflict but because of personality mismatch that led to eventual conflict. for instance, the current minister of finance and the present governor work well together and have great respect for each other. what then is the solution? i think the best solution is to legalize central bank independence by spelling out clearly in the central bank legislation the power, duties, responsibility and accountability of a central bank. according to the draft amendment of the bank of thailand act which is to be considered by the parliament in the near future, some such important features are : 1. a selection committee, comprising some outstanding thai senior statesmen, to nominate appropriate candidates for governorship. 2. a definite term of office for governorship ( 4 - 5 years is the norm and this can be extended for another term ). 3. clauses which spell out clearly causes for removal of governor. 4. a court of directors which comprises of the governor and deputy governors and at least five other members to oversee / manage / entrust the overall affairs of the bank of thailand. question remains whether governor should be chairman and ceo as well. there are pros and cons on this issue. 5. a monetary policy board chaired by the governor and consists of internal and external directors. external directors will be appointed by the government. responsibility and accountability of the board will be spelled out clearly. it is important to have qualified external directors to provide wider perspective and perhaps a counter balance views. since the draft amendment of the bank of thailand act will take time to be enacted because of a long legal and parliamentary processes ( we expect it to be enacted in the middle of next year ), we have decided to go ahead with the establishment of a monetary policy committee ( mpc ). the mpc consists of seven members with the governor chairing the committee. there are two external advisors who serve on the committee, providing independent thoughts and perspectives. the committee meets every six weeks on a pre - announced schedule. the main responsibilities of mpc comprises of : • setting the direction of the monetary policy with the objective of maintaining price stability, • examining and approving the monetary conditions and policy stance report, and, • overseeing the quarterly inflation report. why did we adopt and implement inflation targeting as our

sethaput suthiwartnarueput : the thai economy - the current state and the way forward speech by dr sethaput suthiwartnarueput, governor of the bank of thailand, at the japanese chamber of commerce ( jcc ) dinner talk, siam, 25 march 2024. * * * part i : where we are in 2023, thai economy grew 1. 9 % yoy, surpassed pre - covid level in q3 / 23 underpinned by strong growth in consumptions and tourism. yet, the recovery was weaker than expected, especially in q4 / 23. gdp growth in q4 was negative on quarter - on - quarter basis at - 0. 5 % 1 due to weaker cyclical tailwinds and stronger structural headwinds. ( + 1. 7 % yoy ) first, exports and manufacturing productions were very soft in q4, from the combination of cyclical and structural factors, which the latter is our concerns. for example, the recovery in china has not translated much into our exports, particularly in petrochemical products, which reflects china's greater self - reliance policy. second, tourists'spending per trip was less than before despite tourist arrival increasing as expected at around 28 million persons. normally we expected to see tourists'spending extremely high in the second half of the year, especially in q4, but last year it came up to be lower than the first half. third, fiscal spending contributed negatively to gdp in q4 due to the delay of 2024 fiscal budget. fiscalspending was down almost 9 % lower than the regular fourth quarter. while government consumption ( spending on wages and salaries ) was not affected, the public investmentsuch as constructions wasseverely impacted. part ii : what to expect in 2024 in 2024, thai economy will continue to recover. we expect to see gdp growth this year in the range of 2. 5 - 3 % yoy ( our latest forecast at mpc feb 24 ). the boost factors that drove the economy last year will persist, while the drag factors will drop off. yet gdp figure in q1 / 24 is not likely to look pretty, as the drag factors will subside a bit later in the year. the boost factors that will continue private consumption, which was the main engine of growth last year ( expanded remarkably at 7. 1 % yoy compared to the past 10 - year average of 3. 5 % ), will moderate to around