Selection of new central bank chairman postponed until next Monday

The committee charged with selecting the next chairman of the board of the Bank of Thailand has decided to postpone its meeting, from this afternoon until November 11th, claiming that it needs more time to consider relevant information before making the decision.

Veeraekha Santaphan, secretary of the selection committee, told the media today that the chair of the committee, Sathit Limpongpan, ordered the postponement after consulting the committee’s members, who agreed that they need more time to consider the matter.

The candidates for the chairmanship are Kittiratt Na-Ranong, former deputy prime minister and finance minister in the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, who was proposed by the Finance Minister, Kulit Sombatsiri, former energy permanent secretary, and Suraphol Nitikraipot, president of Thammasat University Council and independent board member of PTT Corporation. They are both proposed by the central bank.

Last week, a group of over 100 academics, including four former central bank governors, released a statement expressing their concern over attempted government interference in the affairs of the central bank through the nomination Kittiratt, of one of its men, for the post of the bank’s chairman.

Separately, former staff of the central bank published an open letter, urging the selection committee to select someone with integrity and without political affiliation.

Meanwhile, the ‘Dharma Army’ claimed on its Facebook page today that it had collected more than 20,000 signatures from people who are against political inference in the affairs of the central bank.