Thailand's Bt200 billion $4.7 billion Government Pension Fund plans to submit a proposal to its board of directors to allow it to invest up to 10% of its assets overseas in the next two months or so, says Singha Nikornpun, deputy secretary-general in Bangkok.
The apparent bureaucrat hurdles are daunting. While no parliamentary approval is needed, the existing rules for how institutions can invest must be changed by the Ministry of Finance, and then the Bank of Thailand must agree to waive its foreign exchange controls. GPF officials said they would do this two years ago and nothing came of it.
On the other hand, both the MoF and the...
