BIS central bankers’ speeches  7  Household-level data, which looks at all sources of income, suggests an even more striking inter-generational divide. Chart 19 plots average real disposable income across three household types: pensioners and working age adults with and without children. Since 2007, pensioners have seen their real disposable incomes rise by 9%. Over the same period, incomes for working age households with children have increased by 3% while those for working age adult households without children have fallen by 3%. 10 These aged-related disparities in income are mirrored, and amplified, when we look at the distribution of wealth. Chart 20 looks at the evolution of wealth across the age distribution since 2007, while Chart 21 shows a breakdown of the gains. All of the £ trillion rise in wealth since 2007 has been harvested by those over the age of 45, two thirds by those over the age of 65. By contrast, those aged 16–34 have seen their wealth decline by around 10% over the period. Given this evidence, it seems likely perceptions of recovery will differ radically according to age. Those over 50 have seen material gains in both income and, notably, wealth. For them, recovery will have felt tangible. By contrast, those under-40 have seen their disposable incomes and wealth fall. For them, recovery is likely to have felt invisible. Whose recovery? To a significant extent, those over the age of 50. (d)  Housing tenure distribution  Finally, consider the impact of housing tenure.
As this has been the system for a very extended length of time, one ends up with a lot of people being paid a lot and doing very little. As such, people don’t move on in jobs or move out of jobs if they are not competent as might happen with a proper pay system. However, a problem identified is halfway solved as the saying goes. And I am happy to note that outsiders and stakeholders who have had to work with the Bank of Thailand lately are very receptive to the change and are saying much nicer things about us and our work. I also sense that the staff are seeing that things are better and will probably give enough support to the restructure. BIS Review 86/2000  4  Ladies and gentlemen, To get back to the topic of the economy: two years ago I said that we would reduce interest rates as the basic strategy for saving the country. This we have done and now the 14-day RP, the monetary instrument we use to transmit monetary policy to the general economy, is at only 1.5%. The lowest lending rate is 7.5% - what a difference from when I talked to you two years ago. The currency is now at around 42 baht to the dollar, which some people consider weak. Yet when compared to the 22 competitor countries, it has not much depreciated in the last two years.