The institution announced that this measure targets the country’s shadow economy, which accounted for nearly 41% of its GDP by 2015. The Bank of Thailand is already applying the proposed checks on large cash transactions and on gold bullion movements, reducing volumes considerably.
Key Takeaways
Thailand’s bank set up checks to flag USDT transactions, restricting evasion of compliance measures.New source-of-funds rules cut large cash withdrawals by 35%, boosting the national electronic economy.Authorities restricted abnormal gold bullion buying, dropping monthly volumes to strengthen the local baht.In addition, the bank has been scrutinizing large cash deposits since April, forcing customers who withdraw over $150,000 to explain why they need cash instead of using electronic money.
Ratanakorn explained that these measures had reduced these withdrawals by 35%, adding that source-of-funds statements will be required for equally large deposits in the future.
Ratanakorn stressed that “the measures we are implementing are not short-term fixes; they require the continuous deployment of multiple parallel strategies.”
Thailand’s shadow economy is believed to be one of the largest globally, accounting for a large portion of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
