The cabinet’s economic ministers have adopted three short-term measures aimed at driving Thailand’s growth rate to 3% this year, from 2.4% as originally projected by the Fiscal Policy Office, said Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira today.
Speaking after a meeting of economic ministers at the Government House, Pichai said Thai GDP growth in the first quarter was a disappointing 1.5%, the lowest of all ten ASEAN member countries.
The first measure is to increase foreign arrivals in Thailand this year by another million, to 36.7 million, which will potentially increase GDP by 0.12%, said the minister.
The second is to accelerate the disbursement of the remaining Bt850 billion 2024 fiscal budget, of which 20% is for investment.
Pichai said that about 41% of the investment budget has already been disbursed, adding that, if 70% of the remaining investment budget can be disbursed throughout the rest of this year, it will contribute to a 0.24% increase in GDP.
The last measure is to urge private investors, who have received incentives from the Board of Investment, to speed up implementation of their projects, said the minister, adding that, if about Bt40 billion of investment can be made within this year, Thailand’s GDP could increase by 0.14%-0.15%.
Additionally, he said the economic ministers have considered assisting SMEs affected by the COVID pandemic three years ago by instructing the Government Savings Banks to extend low-interest credit to the affected businesses via commercial banks.
The cabinet is expected to introduce a measure tomorrow to guarantee the credit, estimated at about Bt50 billion, to be extended by the Thai Credit Guarantee Corp to help SMEs, said Pichai.
Regarding falling oil palm prices, the economic ministers have instructed the ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and Energy to conduct a market study, before calling a meeting with the palm oil producers to develop a solution to ensure fair prices for oil palm farmers.
Meanwhile, representatives of the farmers will be asked to hold talks with bio diesel producers to settle the oil palm prices.
The economic ministers also acknowledged a report from the Labour Ministry on unemployment, fuelled by mass layoffs from the many factories which are shutting down due to the sluggish economy.
As many as half a million employees have already lost their jobs and about 100,000 graduates are entering the job market this year, who may also end up jobless.
