Deputy PM Ekniti Nitithanprapas reveals how ‘direct honesty’ regarding Thailand’s 10-year investment peak convinced Moody’s to upgrade its economic outlook.
Behind the recent decision by Moody’s Investors Service to upgrade Thailand’s economic outlook to “Stable,” lies a high-stakes diplomatic push led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Ekniti Nitithanprapas.
Returning from the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, Ekniti detailed an unconventional approach to credit negotiations: absolute transparency. By confronting Moody’s concerns regarding Thailand’s “growth trap” head-on, the Finance chief successfully pivoted the narrative from fiscal anxiety to investment-led recovery.
Challenging the ‘No Future’ Narrative
According to Ekniti, Moody’s primary reservation was not the government’s 400-billion-baht emergency loan decree, nor the current public debt level of 66% of GDP. Instead, the agency feared a lack of future growth potential.
“I told Moody’s the truth,” Ekniti said, speaking on his role as a career technocrat. “I explained that we have already moved the needle, lifting GDP from 0.3% to 2.5% in the final quarter of 2025. I demonstrated that we can take a deteriorating situation and turn it around.”
