BANGKOK: Thailand's king has approved Arkhom Termpittayapaisith as the country's new finance minister, as widely expected, the official Royal Gazette said, handing him the task of steering Southeast Asia's second-largest economy through the coronavirus pandemic.

Arkhom, 64, was a transport minister in the government put in place after a 2014 coup, and was former head of the state planning agency, where he worked for more than three decades. He replaces banker Predee Daochai, who unexpectedly quit on Sept. 1 after only a few weeks.