Governor, Bank of Thailand Watanagase Tarisa of Thailand

baht's rise despite her bank's efforts to ease capital controls this month.

Tarisa takes the central bank's helm as Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy faces its slowest growth since 2001 amid stalled government and consumer spending, and dwindling foreign investment after eight months under a caretaker government until last month's coup.

As soon as the volatility reduces, we will lift the requirement," Tarisa said in an interview with Bloomberg News in Bangkok yesterday.

Tarisa was an assistant governor of the BoT and is the first female governor in the bank's 64-year history.

An economist, Tarisa joined the central bank in 1975.

Tarisa said the estimate would be reviewed at a meeting of the banks Monetary Policy Committee meeting on January 14.

double-digits in the second half of this year.

Tarisa said she believed the export sector would recover quickly when the global economy picked up.

Tarisa received her Bachelor and Master Degrees in Economics from Keio University, Tokyo, Japan, in 1973 and 1975 respectively.

Tarisa is currently Governor of the Bank of Thailand (BOT.

Tarisa said that to solve the economic problems, it is necessary that the two institutes cooperate.

Tarisa said that the central bank will closely monitor the global oil prices.

Tarisa said that the decrease in oil prices as well as the governments six measures could lower the inflation rate in the second half of the year.

Although the inflation figure is likely to lower, Tarisa said that there three main factors that encourage the central bank to tighten the monetary policy are: inflation expectation; the increase in domestic demand and resource utilsation; and the adjustment of goods prices.

It should not worry the market if Tarisa takes the job.

and upgrading of supervision in the wake of the Asian crisis.

perceptions that she is not calling the central bank's policy shots.

Dr Tarisa said Thai housing and stock prices would be safe from crisis swoons, as local asset prices had not ballooned over the past several years.

Dr Tarisa said the impacts of the global economic slowdown on exports had not yet clearly been seen in the latest economic data.

Please do not come back next month and ask why inflation has not fallen,'' Dr Tarisa said with a smile.

Dr Tarisa said the government's policies to improve the country's logistics networks and mass transit systems would help reduce oil dependence in the long-term.

Mrs Tarisa said some areas of financial services were already liberalised, and agreed that competition would only intensify in the future.

Ms Tarisa said a number of banks this year could look to raise new capital to support loan growth and business expansion as economic growth is expected to accelerate from 2005.

Bank of Thailand Governor Tarisa Watanagase talked with Bloomberg#039;s William Pesek and Beth Jinks in Bangkok yesterday about c.

Bank of Thailand Governor Tarisa Watanagase talks with Bloomberg#039;s Catherine Yang from Bangkok about the central bank#039;s measu.

out speculators from Japan and the US.

threaten to drive the currency higher.

Tarisa had said the central bank would spend at least three to six months studying the impact of the controls, which she has said repeatedly are only temporary.

In her latest comments, Tarisa said that sharp gains in the baht since Thursday were partly the result of a two-tier market, onshore and offshore, that had given market participants room to arbitrage between the two.

Tarisa described the baht's renewed gains as an aberration of a two-tier market amid thin trading in the last week of 2006.

The aggressive tone from Tarisa is unlikely to take the market by surprise, as analysts were already expecting further rate cuts given tame inflation and slowing economic growth.

Tarisa said investments in mutual funds and property funds would not be excluded from the controls, under which 30 per cent of non-trade-related inflows must be handed over interest-free for a year, with early withdrawal resulting in a stiff penalty.

Tarisa was speaking as the dollar reached a new 10-year low against the Thai currency, dropping to 33.

The massive selling of dollars will help push the baht to appreciate further,' Tarisa said in an interview broadcast by a Thai radio station.

Tarisa said the sharp drop in world oil prices had helped reduce the risk of the annual inflation rate rising to a double-digit figure in the second half of thisyear.

Ms Tarisa said the bank had to consider many factors.

Ms Tarisa said she agreed with Virabongsa that growth will be affected by interest rate hikes but it was only in the short-term.

Ms Tarisa said exports will continue to increase though local manufacturers will find that inflation has reduced their competitiveness.

Tarisa said the bahts recent strength has been due mostly to portfolio investments, but its rise on Tuesday was due to misunderstandings about new rules allowing certain nonresidents to tap onshore baht liquidity.

Exporters should not panic," Tarisa said at a briefing for reporters.

The Bank of Thailand deliberately created ``uncertainty'' in the foreign exchange market to drive out speculators from Japan and the US.

It was important and necessary for US to put a brake on the sentiment, to create some uncertainty,'' Tarisa said in an interview in Bangkok yesterday.

Tarisa said the bank had to act when the baht came ``precariously close to breaking the 35 mark'' against the dollar, and that controls will stay as long as speculators threaten to drive the currency higher.

The capital controls were ``my idea,'' Tarisa said yesterday.

However, Tarisa said a sharp drop in world oil prices, which fell to a 3-month low of $115 a barrel on Friday, had helped reduce the chances of annual inflation hitting double-digits in the second half of this year.

requirement," Mr Tarisa said in Bangkok yesterday.

At a glance, the root causes of both events are strikingly similar,” Tarisa said in evoking memories of the 1997-98 Asian financial meltdown triggered by the devaluation of the Thai baht.

Tarisa said innovative methods would be needed to deal with the evolving challenges.

Tarisa said Asia in general had been little affected so far.

pre-emptive actions, given changing market conditions.

As soon as the volatility reduces, we will lift the requirement," Tarisa said in an interview yesterday.

Tarisa said yesterday the finance minister helped plan the steps.

Tarisa said the central bank has no target for the baht's exchange rate with the US dollar.