Public debt up at 1.7% of GDP, FPO reports
THAILAND’S public debt in the first quarter of fiscal budget year 2016 (October-December 2015) totalled Bt238.53 billion, or 1.7 per cent of gross domestic product, an increase of 9.1 per cent over the same period of the previous fiscal year.
The public sector’s total revenue stood at Bt1.59 trillion, down by Bt158.49 billion, or 9.1 per cent. The decrease was attributed to lower revenue from state enterprises, especially PTT, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) and TOT, according |to Krisada Chinavicharana, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office and the Finance Ministry’s spokesman.
Meanwhile, total public expenditures were Bt1.83 trillion, |down by Bt138.68 billion or 7.1 per cent from the same period of last |fiscal year, mostly from lower expenditures by PTT and Thai International Airways.
The public sector’s primary |balance, which truly reflects operational results and the fiscal |policy’s direction (excluding interest income, interest expense and loan repayment), showed a deficit of Bt171.88 billion, or 1.2 per cent of GDP.
In the first quarter of fiscal |budget year 2016, the government adopted a deficit budget policy |through more state expenditures |and loans to finance priority projects such as water-resource management as well as transport systems, which are crucial investments to help strengthen the local economy in the long term, Krisada said.
