Kittiratt: 'I do not lie'
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Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt NaRanong told the House yesterday that he did not tell lies about this year's export projections.
“I, as a deputy prime minister and the finance minister, do not lie and will never lie and do not want to lie,” he said.
Responding to a motion by Democrat MP Kiart Sitthiamorn, Kittiratt said he disagreed with the projections of Finance Ministry permanent officials but he did not want to spoil their efforts so he did not speak out.
Kiart played a video clip of Kittiratt’s speech at the Dusit Thani Hotel on August 23.
During the speech, Kittiratt admitted that sometimes he had to exaggerate about the country’s economic growth.
“But [the government] must aim high in order to create confidence,” Kittiratt said in the speech. “The finance minister needs to lie sometimes to create good feelings. The world knows this as a ‘white lie’. The goal is to create confidence, which in turn benefits the country’s economy as a whole.”
Kiart told the House that Kittiratt’s admitting he told “white lies” prompted Thai and foreign critics to write more than 500 articles.
Kiart said he wondered whether other the government’s policies would also be “white lies”.
