2. Long-term financial system development
The available long-term as well as cross-sectional evidence documents well that the
financial system develops in line with the overall economy. Stylized facts include
overwhelming evidence that the financial system develops even faster than the rest of the
economy over large periods as early shown by Goldsmith (1969). Most of this evidence is
provided in terms of nominal assets of the financial sector put in relation to nominal GDP.
However, the story holds when financial sector growth is rather measured in real terms, such as
income generated or simply the number of branches etc. (Levine, 1997). So, high financial
sector growth is evident and Thailand is – as an emerging economy – in the middle of
dynamism in this process.