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IMF urges rise in vat rate to 10%

The International Monetary Fund has urged Thailand to raise its value-added-tax rate from 7 per cent to 10 per cent to help finance the budget deficit and infrastructure development.

The suggestion came during a meeting on Monday between the IMF and the Finance Ministry.

Permanent secretary Rungson Sriworasat said yesterday that the IMF expressed its satisfaction with measures for the economy, which is expected to grow by 3-4 per cent this year, an improvement over 2014.

End to free rides

Starting on July 31, free city bus and train rides will come to an end, as the junta-appointed Cabinet decided yesterday that the subsidy scheme had not fully benefited low-income earners.

There are other measures that could be taken to continue providing assistance to the four target groups – |students, senior citizens, the disabled and those entitled to a travel discount – such as passes for free or discounted rides.

In the Cabinet meeting yesterday, the Transport Ministry said the subsidy had been allocated from taxpayers’ money – which should benefit the majority of the people – to serve certain groups of people who are not the targets, such as foreign tourists who can afford to pay for their travel fares.

Plan B Media set for IPO

Plan B Media Co expects to launch an initial public offering next month to raise funds to settle Bt1 billion in debt.

Chief executive officer Palin Lojanagosin said yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission had approved the IPO for February. The shares will be traded on the Stock Exchange of Thailand also next month.

Plan B Media is offering 897.6 million IPO shares, of which 23.4 million shares will be reserved for the firm’s directors and executives, one-fourth will be allocated to institutional investors and the rest made available for general investors.

Govt bonds half-sold

Only half of the Bt100billion government issue of special savings bonds was sold after subscriptions closed last Friday.

Kritsada Uthayanin, directorgeneral of the Public Debt Management Office, said yesterday that the bond sales came as expected as past bond issues came at a smaller amount of only thousands of baht. of the Bt50.05 billion worth of bonds sold, Bt12.14 billion was for the Finance Ministry’s 10year, Bt50billion savings bonds with coupon rates of 35 per cent. They were issued to offset the 2016 budget deficit.