Package for Central region victims for Cabinet consideration

Somchai Sajjapongse, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office, said after a meeting of the ministry’s officials and Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala that the ministry was accumulating data on which the rehabilitation plan will be based, as the floods have affected a large number of individuals and businesses.
“The package to help victims in the Central region will be ready for the Cabinet’s consideration next Tuesday. The additional Bt50billion budget deficit plus Bt80 billion from fiscal reserves should be enough to cope with the flood impact in the short to long term,” he said.
The package will include relief measures announced by state-owned financial institutions as well as tax-related measures. It could also include new measures, being discussed jointly with the private sector. This week, the Federation of Thai Industries proposed a Bt50billion support fund to help businesses recover, as nearly 1,000 factories have been submerged so far.
Somchai acknowledged that it would take time to restore the situation to normal, but parent companies of the affected businesses were ready to extend assistance.
“Restoring private-sector confidence is a big issue, and it requires cooperation from all government units, not just the Finance Ministry,” he said.
He also insisted that the spending plan would not affect the Kingdom’s fiscal status. As the budget deficit was increased by Bt50 billion to Bt400 billion, public debt would rise slightly from the current rate of 41 per cent of gross domestic product.
He also mentioned the ministry’s plan to borrow about half a trillion baht to improve water-management efficiency, so as to prevent a repeat of the current disaster.
Apart from agricultural areas, the floods have wreaked havoc on industrial estates that house major electronics and automotive-related factories. Supply-chain disruption is acute in the automotive and electronics sectors.
Now, as the floods are approaching Bangkok, the retail sector will be the next victim as transport becomes more difficult.
The Internal Trade Department yesterday said that 7Eleven, Siam Makro, Tops Supermarket and Big C Supercentre had asked for cooperation in using Don Mueang Airport as their distribution centres and in getting military trucks to transport inventories in flooded areas to the airport.
To date, Big C and Tesco Lotus have closed their six distribution centres, mostly in Ayutthaya. Future Park Rangsit yesterday announced a twoday closure. Tops Supermarket has closed four outlets and Tesco Lotus Express 25.
It is estimated that the retail sector’s sales growth could fall 12 percentage points to 67 per cent this year.