Thai Finance Minister Surakiart Sathirathai is poised to set up an investigating committee to probe allegations the central bank governor received cut-price shares in a finance company.
This is the first time that the Finance Minister has publicly distanced himself from Vijit Supinit, who has been seen as a useful ally against critics since Mr Surakiart's appointment last July after a national election.
'We must wait for the governor to return from abroad. If he cannot clarify what's been going on, I will set up a committee to find out the truth of the matter,' Mr Surakiart said.
Mr Vijit, who is to return from a conference of central bank governors in Geneva today, is alleged to have received more than 40,000 shares in Siam City Credit Finance & Securities (SCCFS) at par value in 1991. As a central bank deputy governor, Mr Vijit was at the time also a director of the finance firm's parent company Siam City Bank, tasked with keeping an eye on the then troubled firm.
SCCFS shares at par would have cost 10 baht (about HK$3). They now trade at about 100 baht.
There also have been suggestions that in the temporary absence of the finance minister at the time, he, as acting chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, pushed for the speedy clearance of SCCFS' public stock offer.
The minutes of the relevant commission meetings showed that Mr Vijit was opposed by the commission's secretary-general, Ekamol Kiriwat, who argued that they should wait for the chairman's return.