Finance, BOT agree on transfer of FIDF assets

By WICHIT CHAITRONG

THE NATION

The Finance Ministry and the Bank of Thailand yesterday agreed on transfer of the Financial Institutions Development Fund's assets to the ministry to help clear the Bt1.14 trillion debts still outstanding from the 1997 financial crisis.

Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said after a meeting yesterday that while the asset transfer was agreed upon, the two sides were yet to work out other issues.

Finance Permanent Secretary Areepong Bhoocha-oom said the discussion focused on which laws would need to be amended to clear the debts. "FIDF debts are a key issue if we are to achieve a balanced budget in five years, as now we are paying Bt30 billion to Bt40 billion in annual interest."

A source at the ministry said the two sides would meet again in the second week of January. He said the discussion involved assets worth Bt200 billion to Bt300 billion, which is rather small compared with the total debts. Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry adhered to its proposal that the Bank of Thailand buy zero-coupon bonds from the ministry, as well as consolidate its reserve and currency accounts.

The ministry believes con-|solidating the accounts would |help the central bank show profits, given the ballooning reserves. |Then it could repatriate some of those profits to clear the FIDF debts.

Areepong acknowledged that consolidation might lead to short-term profits, but said the long-term outlook was unclear. Many legal issues would have to be explored in detail.

Meanwhile, the BOT deputy governor for financial-institu-|tion stability, Krirk Vanikkul, |reckoned that the asset transfer would require the ministry and |the FIDF to work together in |managing the assets, apprais-|ing them, and planning future actions in the event of renewed problems hitting financial institutions.

He said that if the central bank proceeded with the plan, the FIDF would be closed ahead of schedule and there would be no institution to assist financially troubled institutions.

"Transferring the shares that the FIDF holds to the Ministry of Finance is normal. However, discussions should be made on debt management, and how to appraise assets" whose value was unclear in the past, he said.

"If the transfer is made, the fund must be closed. Then if any institution faces problems, who will provide assistance It has to be clear, otherwise there may be problems after this."

-- The Nation 2010-12-29

More round-robin of paper flushing to create what does not exist i.e. cash! These guys must have brought in a financial genius from Wall Street. Next they will be trading derivative and selling mortgage bundles on properties they don't own.