Expansion of public debt slows down as Thailand’s exports pick up
Thailand’s outstanding public debt as of March 31 stands at 9.95 trillion baht or 60.58 per cent of the gross domestic product, a report from the Finance Ministry shows.
“Outstanding public debt is still in compliance with the State Fiscal and Financial Disciplines Act of 2018, which stipulates that outstanding public debt should not exceed 70 per cent of the GDP,” government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Monday.
On April 1, the Finance Ministry reported that the outstanding public debt as of February 28 was 9.8 trillion baht or 60.17 per cent of the GDP.
The ministry attributed the rise in public debt to the Covid-19 fallout, which prompted the government to issue measures to help affected people and stimulate the economy.
The ministry added that since the global Covid-19 situation began improving in March and economic activities started recovering, foreign currency revenue from exports kept the ratio of public debt low.
Key points in the public debt report as of March 31, 2022, are as follows:
60.58% of GDP (cannot exceed 70% as per the State Fiscal and Financial Disciplines Act)
9.95 trillion baht: Total outstanding public debt
16.42 trillion baht: Thailand’s GDP
26.77%: Ratio of government debt per fiscal year’s estimated revenue (cannot exceed 35%)
653.76 billion baht: Total government debt
2.44 trillion baht: Estimated revenue
1.79%: Ratio of debt in foreign currency against total public debt (must not exceed 10%)
178.11 billion baht: Total debt in foreign currency
0.07%: Ratio of debt in foreign currency against revenue from exports
10.17 trillion baht: Revenue from exports
