Up to Bt100 bn extra state budget

About B70 billion will be gleaned from the upfront licence fees from last year’s 4G spectrum auction, and the remaining Bt30 billion might be borrowed.

The auctions of fourth-generation telecom licences on the 1,800- and 900-megahertz spectra by |the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission fetched almost Bt232 billion. The licence winners will pay the upfront fees in annual instalments.

The three winners of 3G licences on the 2.1-gigahertz spectrum in 2012 also paid their last instalments to the NBTC last month, totalling more than Bt11 billion.

According to Budget Bureau director Somsak Chotrattanasiri, the planned additional budget followed Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak’s policy aiming to strengthen and balance the domestic economy while Thai exports have been affected by the global economic slowdown.

This additional budgeting was set to handle any situations that may arise in the future, while shifting the export-led country to be more dependent on domestic demand.

“We will see whom we will help, communities or farmers or the IT industry. They should be small projects that can be undertaken quickly. However, tourism will be excluded, as it already has a budget,” Somsak said.

The drafting of a bill on this additional expenditure and its passage into law are expected to be completed in a few months.

Because of the additional expenditure, the government’s revenue will need to be higher than targeted.

Krisda Chinavicharana, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office, expects the additional budget will stimulate the economy in the first half of this year. If the planned infrastructure projects get under way in the third quarter, the economy will grow as targeted, he said.

Somkid, the deputy prime minister in charge of economic affairs, expressed his confidence at a seminar held by the Economic Reporters Association yesterday that last year’s gross domestic product would post growth of 3 per cent, as the economy in the fourth quarter was expected to be better than in the third.

The actual 2015 economic figures will be released by the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) around the end of next month. Its current 2015 growth forecast is 2.9 per cent, and 3-4 per cent for 2016. GDP in the first quarter of 2015 grew by 3.0 per cent, 2.8 per cent in the second, and 2.9 per cent in the third.

NESDB secretary-general Pora-metee Vimolsiri said a slower-than-expected global economic recovery, a further slowdown in China, and worse-than-expected drought were all possible risks to the Thai economy this year. The NESDB office expects global GDP to expand by 3.4 per cent and China’s by 6.7 per cent.

The International Monetary Fund expects the global economy to expand by 3.6 per cent.

The NESDB also expects the US economy to expand by 2.7 per cent in 2016, compared with 2.5 per cent in 2015. It expects the US Federal Reserve to raise its policy interest rate two more times this year, which will increase the rate from the |current 0.25-0.5 per cent to |around 0.75-1.0 per cent by the end 2016.