Thai central bank chief becomes finance minister

BANGKOK, Oct 9 (Reuters) Thai central bank governor Pridiyathorn Devakula has been appointed deputy prime minister and finance minister in the interim, post-coup government, a government Web site said today.

Pridiyathorn was one of 26 cabinet ministers announced on the Government House web site www.thaigov.go.th late yesterday.

The widely expected appointment is likely to reassure foreign and Thai investors anxious for a steady hand on the country's economic tiller amid slowing growth, and after months of political unrest that were capped by the September 19 coup against Thaksin Shinawatra.

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