Thai finance minister submits resignation

[BANGKOK] Thailand's recently appointed Finance Minister Predee Daochai has submitted his resignation, but the prime minister has not yet accepted it, four government sources said on Tuesday.

News of his resignation sent the benchmark index down as much as 0.9 per cent before it recovered somewhat.

The banking veteran took office last month in a major economic team shake-up as Thailand seeks to mitigate the damage from the coronavirus pandemic that has devastated its crucial tourism industry.

"The minister wanted to resign but it's unclear if the prime minister will allow him to," said a finance ministry source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.

It was not immediately clear why Mr Predee resigned. Thai media said he wanted to quit due to health reasons.

A government spokesperson said an announcement would be made later in response to media reports of the resignation.

South-east Asia's second-largest economy could shrink 8.1 per cent this year, the biggest contraction on record, according to the central bank.

Mr Predee has been in office just 26 days. His appointment was formally approved on Aug 6.

Mr Predee, 61, was co-president at Kasikorn Bank before leaving the lender to join the cabinet.

Though Thailand has so far reported only 3,417 coronavirus infections and 58 deaths from Covid-19 and has lifted most restrictions, its economy has been hit badly, in particular its tourism sector.

Thailand is forecast to record less than a fifth of last year's record 39.8 million visitors, whose spending made up about 11.4 per cent of gross domestic product.

REUTERS