But its legal structure to supervise the financial sector failed to comply with the programme, because of a lack of new laws to serve the new development, said BOT deputy governor Bandid Nijathaworn.

The BOT is not yet empowered for consolidated supervision by the Financial Institutions Business Act.

The two organisations also asked the BOT to be vigilant in supervising the operations of Thai bank branches located abroad, particularly regarding credit risk. Such branches, accounting for 2 per cent of total loans, have been growing fast.

The Kingdom's anti-money laundering law, the other item left, will be assessed in May. The IMF and the World Bank will do a stress test to evaluate Thai financial institutions' readiness for economic fluctuation. The final report will be announced formally in the middle of the year.

Thai red onions exported to Indonesia

Thai red onions are being exported to the Indonesian island of Sumatra to solve a supply shortage.

Antara News Agency reported on Wednesday that traders in the province of West Sumatra had been importing onions from Thailand and Pakistan, following a disruption in red-onion supplies from Java.

"Over the past few days, red onions imported from Thailand and Pakistan have been dominating onion trading in Padang markets," said Yanmul, an onion trader.

Onion supplies from Java were stopped two weeks ago. Imported onions are estimated to remain on offer in West Sumatra's markets for the next two or three months, pending the time local farmers can harvest their own onions.

Padang has been importing red onions from Thailand, Pakistan, India and China for certain periods over the past decade.

Normally, daily demand for red onions in Padang reaches about 3 tonnes, while daily demand for garlic is about 2 tonnes. Padang imports garlic from China.