Fiscal deficit up partially on fuel subsidies
Thailand shouldered the fiscal deficit of Bt251.8 billion in the second quarter of the 2012 fiscal year (January-March), due partly to fuel subsidies as well as the delayed enactment of the 2012 budget law.
Finance Ministry Spokesman Somchai Sajjapongse said that in the quarter, against government revenue of Bt706.57 billion, expenditure totalled Bt958.37 billion. Delay of the budget law, which should be enacted before the fiscal year started in October, led to huge disbursement in the quarter. Meanwhile, the government also faced some off-balance-sheet expenditure through fuel subsidies. Fuel prices spiked in the quarter, before easing in May when the euro zone crisis shook the global economic prospect.
In the first six months of the fiscal year, fiscal deficit was tuned at Bt401 billion or 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, against Bt322.2 billion in the same period a year earlier.
"The deficit is in line with the government's policy, to support the economic stability and rehabilitate the economy for sustainable economic expansion," Somchai said.
