Long-term measures in focus: Sommai
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THE FINANCE MINISTRY will concentrate on reforms and tax measures in the next six months but still has more economic stimulus measures up its sleeve.
“I personally believe that most of the stimulation efforts are falling into place and the liquidity from previous stimulus measures is still flowing, especially from the investment budget, which is going according to plan,” Finance Minister Sommai Phasee said yesterday.
“And now we will have to wait and see the effects of the stimulation efforts on the economy in the coming period.”
He also said the powers under Article 44 of the military regime’s interim constitution could be used to solve economic matters that are urgent and can only be fixed via absolute executive authority. This would be called for because of the short life span of this interim government.
He said the economy could take care of itself now and the ministry had other longer-range matters on the front burners.
“That does not mean that there are no more stimulus measures, but we have spent a lot of time and effort on this already. I believe that the previous stimulus measures will continue to progress by themselves from now on. There are still many things to do besides that,” he said.
Ailing state enterprises
The biggest is to improve the efficiency and profitability of the seven troubled state-owned enterprises, especially the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), which is bleeding the fiscal budget dry.
The things that he is “extremely satisfied” with in his ministry’s performance in the past six months are the improvement in the efficiency of the specialised financial institutions under the ministry and the financial and tax measures to help grass-roots people and small and medium-sized enterprises.
The ministry’s tax efforts in the next half of the fiscal year will be focused on filling in the gaps in collections, such as currently untaxed income from tutoring schools.
Internet technology will be harnessed to improve customs and excise-tax regulations.
Another concern is the under-utilisation of undeveloped state land such as the SRT’s vast holdings.
The Treasury Department said this month that its revenue from land leases and development could increase from Bt2 billion annually to between Bt20 billion and Bt30 billion per year if government land were commercially developed to its full potential and the assessment of state real estate were completed.
The state has about 32 million land plots nationwide and 8 million had been assessed as of last month, while the rest will be assessed in a year’s time.
The Treasury Department plans to develop the centrally located Makkasan tract , currently not used by the SRT if the railway enterprise agrees to hand it over for a long lease in exchange for paying down its debts.
Sommai said thorny issues such as dealing with SRT had to be cleared up while the junta was still in power, “or else they will never be completed. Billions of baht are at stake here, and it’s the state’s land that [the SRT is] sitting on.
“If it doesn’t have money because of its debt, then the government will clear the debt in exchange for the land so that we can use it to develop and help increase the country’s GDP,” he said.
“The use of Article 44 to solve problems can be done if necessary and socially beneficial, such as the use of the power to solve the problem with the pricing of state lottery tickets. I agree with the prime minister on this one.
“Article 44 could also be employed to accelerate state investment projects that are delayed because they require amendment of the law to proceed,” he added.
