Thailand to appoint Prasarn Trairatvorakul as central bank head

With years of experience in the private sector, the Kasikornbank president is eyed as the next Bank of Thailand governor.

Thailand’s government plans to appoint Prasarn Trairatvorakul, President of Kasikornbank Pcl, as central bank governor to guide an economy emerging from the nation’s worst political violence in almost two decades.

The Cabinet agreed to propose Prasarn, 57, to head the Bank of Thailand for the next five years, Information and Communication Technology Minister Chuti Krairiksh confirmed after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. The appointment must be endorsed by Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

“He will make a great governor with his experience in the private sector,” Pornthep Jubandhu, an economist at Siam Commercial Bank Pcl, said before today’s Cabinet decision. “The challenge that the new governor will face is raising interest rates without disrupting the ongoing recovery.”

The central bank’s 22nd governor will replace Tarisa Watanagase, whose term ends in September, and inherit an economy hurt last quarter by political clashes that claimed 89 lives. The Bank of Thailand, which has kept its benchmark interest rate at 1.25 percent at the past nine meetings, said this month it will consider raising borrowing costs after the unrest ended without derailing the economic recovery.

View the full story in Business Week.