Putting the aforementioned laws into practice will change Thailand’s business and financial landscape regardless of which political party steps into power after the next election. They will contribute to better governance and equality, higher productivity, and long-term sustainability of the country. However, I should point out that, as for all reform initiatives, effectiveness in execution will be the bottom line of their success. Ladies and gentlemen, As for the Bank of Thailand, we also play an important role in upgrading Thailand’s financial infrastructure and regulatory reform within our responsibility. In the pursuit of the digital economy, the government aims to involve all stakeholders to transform Thailand to a lesscash society under the National e-Payment master plan. In conjunction with the Ministry of Finance and the Thai Bankers’ Association, we have recently launched the PromptPay system, which is an electronic faster payment system. It helps facilitate payment transactions and save costs for businesses and consumers. This morning I also witnessed the signing of an agreement with two banks; consortium to roll out EDC machines to 560,000 shops and government agencies all over the country to promote the use of debit cards on a nation-wide basis. 5  The Bank of Thailand also aims to promote competition, innovation, and digital financial services among financial service providers (including FinTech). This move will benefit financial institutions, businesses as well as Thai citizens. In addition, we will encourage niche players to help narrow gaps in access to financial services.
The public debt to GDP ratio currently at 43 percent is projected to stand well below the sustainability ceiling under the ongoing fiscal reform. In coordination with the expansionary fiscal policy, monetary policy remains accommodative to reinforce the economic recovery. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has decided to keep the policy interest rate on hold at a low level since April 2015. Yet the MPC deems that monetary conditions should remain conducive until the economic recovery becomes more broad-based and more robust. For the future, the MPC’s decision on monetary policy will be carefully balanced between accommodating economic recovery and avoiding financial stability risks that could result from an extended period of low interest rates. Ladies and gentlemen, To wrap things up before I move to the second part of my talk, the Thai economic recovery has become more broad-based with a firmer momentum compared with last year while our economy has relatively strong buffers compared to emerging-market peers in the region. Now let me turn to the way forward for the Thai economy. With the short-term trajectory of the Thai economy holding up well thanks to the first two ‘arrows’ as in the Abenomics terms, namely fiscal stimulus and monetary easing, Thailand’s long-term future depends critically on the success of the third arrow of ‘structural reforms’. This brings me to the second part of my talk tonight on the way forward for the Thai economy, and how we and our partners like Japanese businesses may work together towards sustainable economic prosperity.