THERE is no job seemingly more thankless than that of finance minister when a country is in the midst of a catastrophic economic crisis. Against the odds, however, Thai finance minister Tarrin Nimmanahaeminda seems to win more admirers every day. Little girls dip into their father's wallets and mail him money to pay off the IMF. The typically sceptical press applauds his every move. Gushes Bangkok Post: "Forget your idols of popular culture. The most watched man in Thai society is Tarrin." Tarrin seems just the man for Thailand's difficult times. For starters, the former banker is more a technocrat than a politician. In this era of bewildering financial complexity, that ought to be a constitutional requirement for the job in any country. With military speed and precision, Tarrin has defused the financial time-bomb he inherited, quickly shutting down 56 insolvent finance companies propped up at a cost of several billion dollars. He has also restored a semblance of sanity to the central bank, which last year bet an incomprehensible $25 billion in its futile defence of the baht. By saying all the right things, Tarrin has coaxed the baht from a low of 57 to the dollar in January to 40 to the dollar. While Tarrin's colleagues may occasionally disagree with him in private, premier Chuan Leekpai and his cabinet back him to the hilt in public. If there is one thing investors and businessmen value in policymakers, it is consistency. A flood of money from foreign institutional investors has made Thailand, the epicentre of the earthquake that hit Asia just last summer, among the best performing stock markets in the world since the beginning of the year. The manner in which cabinet ministers have galvanised support for their government and presented a united front to the world as they tackle the worst economic crisis in Thailand's example is something our new government might try to emulate.
