prasarn trairatvorakul : living with capital flows – a delicate balancing act speech by mr prasarn trairatvorakul, governor of the bank of thailand, at the 5th annual euromoney thailand investment forum, living with capital flows : a delicate balancing act, bangkok, 22 march 2011. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it ’ s an honor to speak before you today in the 5th annual euromoney thailand investment forum. since yesterday, you must have already heard many interesting discussions about thailand ’ s prospects. here, i would like to reaffirm that thailand is indeed on a recovery path. over a longer horizon, the prospects of asean integration and the rise of asia are also offering causes for optimism. as international investors, you naturally would want to participate in thailand ’ s exciting prospects. before putting more money into thailand, however, i suspect that you would want to understand our macro - policy environment. our recovery has been gaining momentum, and the central bank has been echoing more vigilance regarding inflationary pressures. meanwhile, the global environment suggests that more capital is likely to flow into our economy. in this complex situation, i believe that you might want to know what the central bank ’ s view and stance are. since the majority of you are in the capital markets, the focus of my talk today will be related to capital inflows. capital inflows have always been and will continue to be welcomed into thailand. indeed, capital inflows have been vital for thailand ’ s development. for the past 30 years, capital inflows have helped finance our country ’ s productive capacities and thus helped raise the standard of living for millions of thais. going forward, more capital is expected to flow into the region for at least two reasons, namely, the growth differential between emerging asia and advanced economies and the changing nature of global liquidity. on the first reason, the strong growth momentum in asia is likely to draw in more capital. this factor is especially strong as advanced economies continue to cope with legacies from the crisis. in contrast, asia has survived the global crisis relatively well. recent numbers show that asia ’ s growth during the past year has been driven by both external and internal demand. for this year, the momentum is expected to continue, while the rapid growth of the middle class in large asian economies such as china and india makes the prospect of intra - regional demand even more hopeful over the longer horizon. another development

benoit coeure : interview in les echos interview with mr benoit coeure, member of the executive board of the european central bank, in les echos, conducted by mr nicolas barre, ms catherine chatignoux, mr jeanphilippe lacour, mr etienne lefebvre, mr guillaume maujean, mr dominique seux and mr francois vidal, and published on 29 june 2015. * * * is greece ’ s exit from the euro area now the most probable hypothesis? greece exiting the euro area, which used to be theoretical, can unfortunately no longer be ruled out. it ’ s the result of the greek government choosing to end discussions with its creditors and resorting to a referendum, causing the eurogroup not to prolong the second adjustment programme. the ecb, like the other european authorities, wishes greece to stay in the euro area. that ’ s the substance of the proposal made last week by the commission, the imf and the ecb in the form of a programme of reforms and a financing offer that is much more favourable than anything proposed in the past. europe has never abandoned greece. in what way were these proposals more favourable? they gave greece the time and the freedom to reform its economy, for example its labour market, while envisaging a demanding budgetary path, but taking account of the deteriorating economic climate. the primary surplus requested was reduced to 1 % of gdp in 2015, compared with 3 % previously. we were also proposing larger cuts in military spending to create room for manœuvre elsewhere. so does the responsibility for breaking off talks lie entirely with greece? the decision to interrupt discussions was taken by the greek authorities. that also surprised us, for we were coming to the end of some quite focused and fruitful exchanges. you are talking about proposals in the past tense. does the ecb consider that the question to be put to the greeks in the referendum is already null and void, since the assistance arrangement will no longer be relevant from the evening of 30 june? the programme will indeed formally expire on tuesday evening. having said that, if the response is “ yes ” i have no doubt that the euro area authorities will find the means, one way or another, to honour the commitments that have been made. the question is a political one. it ’ s the greeks who hold the answer to that question. and if the greeks say “ no ” … that would be to refuse the offer made by the other 18 members of