Democrat challenge could leave BOT without a board

BOT assistant governor Arkabusk Krairiksh said that if the court issued the injunction, all duties of the new board would be frozen.

The board will not then be able to appoint outside members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) or two other committees working on the supervision and payment system.

The Democrat Party said earlier it would petition the Office of the Auditor General to examine the qualifications of BOT board members and that if they were found deficient it would take the case to the Administrative Court.

It said it would also ask the ombudsman to consider whether appointments by the selection committees were valid in view of the dubious nature of several members' qualifications.

The new MPC and the other two committees cannot be established yet because the current MPC must legally convene for the last time on August 27. The new committee is supposed to meet on September 16 and have two more meetings this year.

"It depends on whether the court issues the temporary injunction," said Arkabusk. "If it does, the BOT board will have no one on it, as has happened to other organisations, and like them it will not be able to perform its tasks."

BOT governor Tarisa Watanagase said the bank had no contingency plan should the new MPC not be appointed in time and would have recourse to the law.

Deputy premier and finance minister Surapong Suebwonglee yesterday insisted he had appointed the members of the selection committee with due care and the BOT act did not specify qualifications for them.

He said the accused had not been sentenced but the Democrat Party had a right to petition the court.

Meanwhile Tarisa said the BOT would not tighten monetary policy if inflationary pressure declined. She said concerns over two-digit inflation had been relieved as oil prices had dramatically increased.

She said economic agencies could make a joint agreement on the targeted range of inflation as soon as the MPC decided whether core inflation remained on target.

Surapong said that despite the joint meeting it would be the central bank that finalised the target.