Virabongsa scrambles for more funds
Virabongsa Ramangkura, a top economic guru who takes charge of the government's committee on rebuilding strategies, has unveiled more of his plans to finance the country's "infrastructure" investment.
At the Board of Investment-hosted CEO Forum today, he also mentioned that the infrastructure would not be limited to the water-related. In his version, it covers other infrastructure that would make Thailand stronger, including education.
"I have been asked frequently how Thailand would finance the investment. Thailand is capable of that. We're not poor," he told the audience.
He noted that the government's direct borrowing is now low, accounting to less than 10 per cent of the gross domestic product. Most of the obligations however belong to state enterprises and other units.
Aside from the plan to return the Financial Institutions Development Fund's Bt1.4 trillion debt to the Bank of Thailand, Virabongsa also envisioned a plan that the government's Vayupak Fund buys a 2 per cent stake in PTT Plc. Such would free PTT from the state enterprise status and would automatically free the government from guaranteeing its debts of about Bt700 billion. A similar approach is planned for Thai Airways International Plc, for which the government guarantees debts of about Bt200 billion. He admitted that the THAI case would be a bit difficult, as it involves a negotiation with the labour union.
He envisioned a stronger Thailand after the investment. Parts-making factories which could not cope with high labour cost here should be relocated to other Asean countries. Then, their products could be shipped to Thailand for export-oriented production. Thailand could be a regional manufacturing hub, he said.
"The previous governments had put great emphasis on politics. It's time to refocus on the economy," he noted.
