Thailand has “very high” foreign reserves estimated at almost 200 billion dollars in August, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said last night.

Speaking in his weekly address, he pointed out that Thailand’s foreign reserves are 3.5 times higher than its short-term debts, suggesting that the country’s foreign reserves are more than enough.

If Thailand wants to settle all its public debts today with its foreign reserves,  he said, the country’s public debts will be reduced to just 4 percent of the GDP compared to the international standard of public debts  not exceeding 60 percent of the GDP.

He attributed the country’s healthy foreign reserves and strong economy to the government’s shift to borrowing domestically from borrowing from foreign sources, restructuring of loans into long-term loans, export and service sector growths, financial discipline and strong financial position of commercial banks and the private sector.

While many other countries, such as Venezuela and Argentina, are experiencing economic crisis, the prime minister said the Thai economy remains strong and scarcely affected with minor weakening of the baht currency and slight drop of the stock market index because Thailand has learned a lesson from the economic meltdown in 1997.