Page 725 - Statistical Yearbook Thailand 2013

Money, Finance, Insurance and Balance of Payments Statistics
Money, finance, insurance and balance of payments statistics presented in this chapter have
been derived from the Treasury Department, the Government Savings Bank, Ministry of Finance, the
Bank of Thailand, Department of Insurance, Office of Insurance Commission, Ministry of Commerce
and the Co-operatives Promotion Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives.
In general, “money ” consists of coins, banknotes which are legal tender and bank demand
deposits which are paid and transferred by cheque. The unit of Thai currency known as “Baht” is equal
to one hundred “Stangs”, which is of the decimal system.
The Bank of Thailand, which was set up under the Bank of Thailand Act B.E. 2485 (1942) is
the central bank of the country. In order to ensure the stability of the currency and to maintain a
currency reserve fund, the compositions of the currency reserve fund providing in section 30 of the
Currency Act B.E. 2501 (1958) are as follows:
1. gold,
2. foreign currencies which are convertible currencies or any other currencies prescribed by a
Ministerial Regulation, which must be in the form of deposit with a bank outside the Kingdom or with
an internationa financial institution,
3. foreign securities payable in foreign currencies as stated in 2.
4. gold and foreign assets paid as subscription to the International Monetary Fund,
5. Reserve Tranche Purchase Certificate
6. Special Drawing Right Certificate,
7. Securities of the Thai Government payable in foreign currencies as stated in 2. or in baht,
8. domestic bills which the Bank of Thailand is permitted to purchase or rediscount, provided
that the total value thereof does not exceed 20 per cent of the total amount of notes issued.
With respect to the assets stated in 1 2 3 4 5 and 6 above, the Bank of Thailand shall be
required to maintain their total value at not less than 60 per centum of the notes issued.
Thailand has been a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 1949, but did
not fix an initial par value for the Baht, because at that time the economic situation had not yet