Kittiratt focuses on winding up key tasks before moving to finance ministry
Moving ahead with the FIDF debt diversion plan and explaining it to Parliament, setting up a national insurance fund, securing Bt350 billion to invest in flood prevention, and reining in public debt are the four priority tasks for incoming finance ministe
Kittiratt said yesterday that as he would soon be stepping down as commerce minister, he would proceed quickly with the transfer of the Financial Institutions Development Fund’s debt to the Bank of Thailand.
Despite a chorus of opposition, the government must proceed with the plan, as it will help ease the pressure from approaching the limit on national public debt and expand the capacity for the country to borrow in the future, he said.
The government will need to spend a huge amount for reconstruction after the severe floods, so he will urgently find financing for the Bt350 billion worth of flood-prevention projects that are a strategy for boosting investor confidence.
The Bt50-billion national insurance fund will also be created to help factory operators and companies cope with rising insurance premiums after global insurers suffered huge losses from the Thai floods.
Although he is leaving Commerce, he is confident that the incoming minister will proceed efficiently with promoting international trade, he added.
