Thai cabinet approves 5-year financial reform plan
Thai cabinet approves 5-year financial reform plan
BANGKOK (Reuter): The Thai cabinet yesterday approved a five-
year plan aimed at increasing the efficiency of the financial
system and turning Thailand into a financial hub for the region,
an official in the prime minister's office said.
The master plan for the next five years was drawn up by the
Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Thailand, the Stock Exchange of
Thailand and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The aims of the long-awaited plan include improving efficiency
to meet increasing needs for capital and financial services to
support economic growth and increase competitiveness, the Bank of
Thailand said in a summary.
It should also strengthen the solvency and quality of
financial institutions' portfolios and channel credit to
provincial areas in line with the government's regional policy of
promoting growth outside Bangkok.
The plan should also increase domestic savings, the Bank of
Thailand said, and among its measures was to grant five new bank
licenses by April 1996 to local financial institutions.
Conditions for the new bank licenses include locating the
headquarters outside Bangkok. The new banks must have no
relationship with existing banks in terms of shareholding or
management, a Finance Ministry official said.
They must be public banks with enough capital to ensure stable
and solid banking operations, the official said. The new banks
must also have experienced management.
In addition, seven existing foreign banks with full branch
licenses in Thailand will be able to open two more branches each
by May 1996, one in Bangkok and the other in the provinces.
They are Bank of Tokyo, Bank of America NT & SA, Citibank NA,
Deutsche Bank AG, the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp. and
Standard Chartered Bank and ABN-AMRO Bank NV, said the official.
The masterplan also provides for another five to seven full
bank licenses for foreign banks by May 1996, the official said.
Foreign-registered companies owned or partly owned by Thais
will be allowed to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in a
move to promote the development of the Thai capital market as a
regional market, the bank said.