Revealing the history of Dr. Ekniti Nitithanpraphat, the new Finance Minister.

Revealing the history of Dr. Ekniti Nitithanpraphat, the new Finance Minister in the Anutin government, one of the outsider ministers.

Dr. Ekniti Nitithanprapas Currently 54 years old, graduated with a Bachelor of Economics (Honors) from Thammasat University, a Master of Economics /Policy Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, and a Ph.D. in Economics /Macroeconomics and International Finance, Claremont Graduate University, USA.

After graduating, Dr. Ekniti entered government service at the Ministry of Finance, before moving on to become Director of the Macroeconomic Policy Office, Fiscal Policy Office (FPO), as well as Minister for Fiscal Policy to the United Kingdom and Europe, Senior Advisor to the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance.

After that, he served as Director of the State Enterprise Policy Office (SEPO), leading the PPP Fast Track concept to drive public investment, reducing project approval time from 2 years to just 9 months. He also initiated the establishment of the Thailand Future Fund, a new source of government funding, helping to reduce the country's debt burden. He also led the reform of state enterprises by introducing a board selection and recruitment system that utilized the Skill Matrix competency.

In 2561, Dr. Ekniti assumed the position of Director-General of the Revenue Department. He promoted the D2RIVE strategy, aiming to become a digital Revenue Department, using technology to drive the department's work processes and increase convenience for taxpayers. This strategy led to the creation of the My Tax Account system, which allows taxpayers to access information to check their tax deductions before filing Form Por.Ngor.Dor. 90/91. This system was later developed into the current D-MyTax system.

Later, on May 21, 2565, Dr. Ekniti was transferred to the Director-General of the Excise Department, where he pushed for new excise tax policies, such as the carbon tax. The Cabinet, at its meeting on January 21, 2568, approved the draft carbon tax law in principle, incorporating a carbon pricing mechanism into the oil tax structure, at a rate of 200 baht per ton of carbon.

Furthermore, the Cabinet is moving forward with improving the tax structure for the excise tax on spirits to ensure that alcoholic beverage prices are appropriate and internationally competitive, and to support tourism and overall spending in the country. On January 2, 2567, the Cabinet approved measures to promote Thailand as a tourism and spending hub. This includes adjusting the excise tax structure for spirits and wine, as well as reducing the wine import tax to 0%, as proposed by the Excise Department.

Most recently, Dr. Ekniti assumed the position of Director-General of the Treasury Department on November 18, 2567. He announced a policy to increase the value and worth of national assets to drive the economy, promote the environment, society, and culture, making the Treasury Department a Grade A department.

Education

• Ph.D. in Economics, Claremont Graduate University, USA (Thai Government Scholarship, February)
• MS in Economics, University of ILLINOIS at Urbana-Champaign, USA (Thai Government Scholarship, February 2018)
• Bachelor of Economics (Honors), Thammasat University (Thammasat Economics Association Scholarship)

Current position

• Director General of the Treasury Department
• Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thanachart Bank Public Company Limited
• Director and Chairman of the Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee, PTT Exploration and Production Public Company Limited
• Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thanarak Asset Development Company Limited
• Executive Director of Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB), OECD & United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
• Board of Directors and Executives of Vajiravudh College
• NIDA University Council Member

Past work experience

• Director-General of the Excise Department, Ministry of Finance
• Director-General of the Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance
• Director of the Office of the State Enterprise Policy Committee
• International Economic Advisor, Fiscal Policy Office
• Ambassador (Economic and Fiscal Affairs) to the United Kingdom and Europe
• Ministry of Finance Spokesperson
• Senior Advisor to Executive Director, The World Bank, Washington DC, USA

Past experience as Chairman

• Chairman of the Board of Directors, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited
• Chairman of the Board of Directors, Krungthai Bank Public Company Limited
• Chairman of the Board of Directors, Thanachart Bank Public Company Limited
• Chairman of the Board of Directors, National Credit Bureau Co., Ltd.
• Chairman of the Board of Directors, Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Bank)
• Chairman of the Risk Management Committee, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank (SME Bank)
• Chairman of the Risk Management Committee, Krungthai Asset Management Public Company Limited (KTAM)
• Directors and Corporate Governance Committee of Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited
• Director of Aeronautical Radio of Thailand Co., Ltd.
• Director of IRPC Public Company Limited

Outstanding past achievements

• Implementing a digital system to enhance the Revenue Department and Excise Department's service to the public, earning the Outstanding Digital Organization Leader Award from the government in 2566 and the international Digital Government Award in Asia and Oceania in 2565. In 2564, they received the Thailand Digital Transformation Award.
• Elevate the Excise Department to the status of an ESG Department and promote the carbon tax policy as a tool to promote the environment and drive TTB towards becoming a sustainable bank that allows businesses to grow alongside the environment, society, and good governance.
• Leading the PPP Fast Track concept to drive public investment, reducing project approval time from 2 years to only 9 months.
• He initiated the establishment of the Thailand Future Fund, a new source of government funding to help reduce the country's debt burden.
• Leading the reform of state enterprises by introducing a recruitment and selection system for directors using the Skill Matrix competency.
• He is the co-founder and designer of the macroeconomic analysis and economic forecasting system for the Ministry of Finance.

Academic works

• Special lecturer, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University, Japan, and MA in Business Economics, Chulalongkorn University, Master of Management, Mahidol University, and MA in Business Economics, University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
• Written the book "Domino Effect: The Thai Economy's Survival Amidst the Global Crisis" published by Biz Book.
• The Asian Crises Reexamined, MIT Press Journals: Asian Economic Papers, Vol 3, No 3, 2004
• The Role of Exchange Rate Regimes and Capital Controls in the Asian Crises, Institute of International Economics, Nov 3, 2004.

Awards and certificates

• University of Illinois Distinguished Alumni Award 2558
• Outstanding Scholarship Student Award 2561 from the Office of the Civil Service Commission
• Rising Star Economist of the Year Award 2552 and Outstanding Economist of the Year Award 2561, Thammasat Economics Association
• Outstanding Alumni Award of the Faculty of Economics and Thammasat University, 2567
• Thai national youth rugby football team and president of the Thammasat University rugby football club

Includes a special interview with Dr. Ekniti Nitithanpraphat on banking finance.

• Empowering the Treasury Department to Drive the Thai Economy Towards Sustainability
• Moving towards the ESG Department setting a target for carbon tax collection on 1 Oct. 67.
• Dr. Ekniti Nitithanpraphat, Director-General of the Excise Department: EASE Excise strategy launched to drive the economy with tax measures.
• Ekniti Nitithanprapas Changing the face of the modern revenue department, working in an agile way, focusing on using Data Analytics
• Dr. Ekniti Nitithanpraphat, Director-General of the Revenue Department, is advancing the D2RIVE strategy, setting four goals for tax restructuring.
• Dr. Ekniti Nitithanpraphat, Director-General of the Revenue Department, is accelerating the development of a digital project to provide services that meet the needs of taxpayers in the digital age.