Ekniti Nitithanprapas
Ekniti Nitithanprapas is a Thai politician, serving as Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister since 2025.
Career
Overseas
Ekniti possesses extensive international professional experience. He served as a Senior Advisor to the Executive Director at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., from 2006 to 2009, representing the South East Asia Constituency.Following his tenure at the World Bank, he was appointed as Minister at the Royal Thai Embassy in London, covering the United Kingdom and Europe. In this capacity, he acted as a key representative for the Thai Ministry of Finance in coordinating regional economic policies and monitoring the European economic landscape.
In June 2020, Ekniti was appointed as a Member of the Governing Board of Tax Inspectors Without Borders, a joint initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations Development Programme. He was the first Asian to hold a position on the board.
As a member of the Governing Board, he contributed to setting strategic directions for tax audit capacity building in developing countries and promoting international tax transparency and fairness.
Private sector
Ekniti has served as chairman and as a board member of Thai state enterprises and private-sector companies, most of them public companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. These included serving as chairman of Krung Thai Bank, Thai Airways International, and the National Credit Bureau, as well as chairman of the Executive Board of Directors of the Export–Import Bank of Thailand. He also served as a director of Siam Commercial Bank.Public service
Prior to his appointment as Minister of Finance in the Anutin cabinet, Ekniti served as director-general of Thailand's Treasury Department.In September 2025, he resigned as chairman of TMBThanachart Bank, effective 16 September 2025. He also resigned from PTT Exploration and Production PCL as a director and chair of its Corporate Governance and Sustainability Committee, effective the same date.
Minister of Finance
After taking office, Ekniti was tasked with forming a special team to investigate suspicious financial flows linked to online scams and related crimes.Deputy Minister of Finance Vorapak Tanyawong subsequently resigned on 22 October 2025 following allegations linking him and his wife to a transnational scam operation.