Tongurai Limpiti: Future of Thai banking system – the road towards AEC 2015 Keynote address by Ms Tongurai Limpiti, Deputy Governor for Corporate Support Services and Banknote Management of the Bank of Thailand, at the IDC Financial Insights, Thailand Financial Services Summit 2012, Bangkok, 8 November 2012. *  *  *  Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is an honor to join all of you today and I would like to thank the IDC Financial Insights for inviting me to deliver a keynote address at this event. The title of my remark today is about “Future of Thai Banking System: the Road towards AEC 2015”. I think that this issue is appropriate and timely as we are now approaching a new face of regional economic integration, or the ASEAN Economic Community, which will come into effect in 2015. To be aware of its impacts and to identify company positions and strategy in responding to its impacts would be of a great benefit. I hope that this event will provide a very good opportunity for us to share experiences and views on the way to move forward. With the given time, I will use this opportunity to touch on three topics which are current situation of Thai banking system and the new challenges from AEC, the impacts of AEC on financial institutions, and the role of central bank.
However, there may be reason for some upward revision to the inflation forecast made in May, and perhaps even to the one made in August. One factor which could indicate a higher inflation rate, at least in the short term, is the high oil prices. Resource utilisation may also be slightly higher than anticipated in the coming years. One reason is the strong figures for Swedish growth that we have seen over the summer. Another is that fiscal policy will probably become more expansionary  BIS Review 51/2004  5  now. Inflation can nevertheless be expected to be in line with the Riksbank's target two years from now. This is also the picture painted in a speech by Riksbank Governor Lars Heikensten in London today. Conclusion Let me summarise what I have said this evening. Despite stock market fluctuations and a periodically weak economic climate, both household indebtedness and house prices have increased substantially, on a national level, in recent years. There have been similar developments in many countries, and households’ debts and interest payments as a percentage of disposable income are not remarkably high in Sweden. Although the debt ratio is approaching the high level prior to the financial crisis at the beginning of the 1990s, the low interest rates have meant at the same time that households' interest expenditure as a percentage of income has largely been halved since then.