The Bank of Thailand yesterday welcomed Atchana Waiquamdee, one of its assistant governors, to take over the post of deputy governor in charge of monetary policy after former deputy governor Bandid Nijathaworn was relocated to the role of overseeing financial institutions.

This significant change follows the Cabinet's approval yesterday of Tarisa Watanagase as BOT governor. Tarisa is expected to help strengthen the central bank's monetary-policy management.

Tarisa said Atchana was recognised as the most appropriate person for the job. Her appointment was proposed to the Finance Ministry and the Cabinet by ex-governor MR Pridiyathorn Devakula and two deputy governors.

Atchana is a widely respected senior economist known for her accuracy and straightforwardness. She is particularly knowledgeable in econometrics and is capable of making complex economic figures and models accessible to ordinary people.

Her career in the BOT began after the 1997 economic crisis when former governor MR Chatu Mongol Sonakul recruited outsiders to strengthen the central bank's weak points and restructure its organisation, which was blamed as a partial cause of the meltdown.

Before becoming a senior director of the BOT in August 1998, Atchana was a lecturer at Thammasat University, a senior researcher at the Thailand Development Research Institute and a top executive of the now-defunct GF Finance and Securities Company.

Her new responsibility will not only cover monetary-policy management but also money-market operation. She will operate close to the trading room, stabilising the baht in line with economic fundamentals and traders' demands.

She should be able to handle the traders smoothly as macroeconomics mainly causes changes in the money market. For example, economic fundamentals will affect investors' confidence and capital movement, resulting in the baht appreciating or depreciating.

Atchana is to hold a press conference after the Monetary Policy Committee meets today. She said yesterday that higher farm prices spurred by flooding around the country would put slightly more pressure on inflation because of a decline in energy prices and electricity bills.

"We may not see the low inflation witnessed in August and September," she said.

In the meantime, Bandid will be afforded a good opportunity in his new role to extend his analytical mind and learn about financial institutions he has not worked with before. The experience gained in this position will increase his suitability as the next central bank governor.

"I would like him to become experienced in the supervisory role, which is very detailed. He will have a chance to learn about the other side," said Tarisa.

His supervisory work will play a key role next year in Thailand's bid to be accepted in an international standard called the Financial Sector Assessment Program, which was introduced by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The BOT's organisational structure is changing due to the new governor's range of experience, particularly regarding supervision, and the posting of two deputy governors with strong monetary-policy backgrounds.

This is different from Pridiyathorn's tenure when he used his private-sector management skills to run the BOT with the support of Tarisa and Bandid and their respective expertise in supervision and monetary policy.

Tarisa has dismissed concern about the BOT's perceived supervision weak point, saying the central bank has good systematic management.

It is established procedure for the BOT to rotate its executives and staff to encourage them to learn about other tasks.

Anoma Srisukkasem

The Nation