Thailand couts Soros to invest, says report

Thailand couts Soros to invest, says report

BANGKOK (DPA): Thailand last month urged U.S. billionaire currency trader George Soros to invest in the local stock market and promote the country in international financial markets, a news report said yesterday.

The request was made by Thai government officials attending the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank held last month in Hong Kong, which Soros attended as a guest speaker, said the Bangkok Post, an English-language daily.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, another honorary speaker at the IMF/WB meeting, used the forum to chastise international currency traders calling their activities "unnecessary, unproductive and immoral."

Soros countered by calling Mahathir a "menace to his own country."

At the same meeting Thailand was reportedly courting the controversial billionaire to invest in Thai stocks and help restore confidence in the Thai economy, which last August had to seek a US$17.2 billion rescue package from the IMF.

"Mr. Soros asked us whether investing 1 billion dollars would be enough or not," Thailand's deputy finance minister Chaovarat Charnveerakul told the Bangkok Post.

"But he said that right now, he couldn't invest in Thai stocks, because of the two-tier market, which creates obstacles in repatriating funds out of the country," said the politician.

The Bank of Thailand last May banned lending of baht offshore to combat speculation in the baht currency, effectively splitting the market into two tiers.

The measure, originally aimed at combating attacks by international currency speculators such as Soros's hedge fund, has in the longterm discouraged foreign investment. The two-tier system is expected to be lifted sometime next year.

Thailand's strategy was to encourage Soros to buy baht- denominated assets such as stocks in order to guarantee against future attacks by the currency speculator on the baht, said the newspaper.