Ekniti Nitithanprapas

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Kingdom of Thailand

Dr. Ekniti Nitithanprapas is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Kingdom of Thailand. A seasoned fiscal and financial policy leader, he has held several senior positions in the Ministry of Finance, including Director-General of the Treasury Department, the Excise Department and the Revenue Department, as well as Director of the State Enterprise Policy Office. He has also served as Chairman and Board Member of major public and private institutions in Thailand. Internationally, Dr. Ekniti has served as Minister for Economic and Financial Affairs at the Royal Thai Embassy in London and as Senior Advisor to the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

Throughout his career, Dr. Ekniti has been recognized for advancing fiscal modernization, digital innovation and sustainable finance. He pioneered blockchain-based VAT refunds for tourists, helped drive Thailand’s Carbon Tax policy framework, introduced the PPP Fast Track mechanism and was a founding architect of the Thailand Future Fund.

Dr. Ekniti earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Claremont Graduate University and his Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under the Royal Thai Government Scholarship. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics, with honors, from Thammasat University.