Govt urged to defer wage hike until 2015
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Business owners yesterday urged the government to postpone until 2015 the increase in the minimum daily wage to Bt300 in 70 provinces.
According to the Central Wage Committee, the pay rise must take place next year.
Federation of Thai Industries vice president Thanit Sorat said the postponement was one of the FTI’s nine requests.
And Suwanchai Lohawatanakul, secretarygeneral of the Association for Promotion of Thai Small and Medium Enterprises, said firmly during a meeting with the Labour Ministry that SMEs “need time to adjust” to the sharp rise in the minimum wage.
The meeting was held to garner the opinions of entrepreneurs after the daily wage was increased to Bt300 in seven provinces from April 1.
Suwanchai said that apart from the postponement, the government should also provide soft loans and labourskill development to SMEs.
Thai Chamber of Commerce vice president Phumin Harinsut added that a fund should be set up to offer soft loans to SMEs because these enterprises are not beneficiaries of the government’s decision to lower the corporate income tax rate from 30 per cent to 20 per cent for two years.
“The interest rate of the soft loans should be about 12 per cent only,” Phumin suggested.
Tourism Council of Thailand vice president Thaniwan Kunmongkhon, who represents restaurant operators and hoteliers, also asked the government to consider introducing more measures to cushion the impact from the wage hike.
“For example, the SME Power Fund should extend the repayment period from eight to 14 years,” she said.
Labour Minister Phadermchai Sasomsap said his ministry would look into the requests from the business owners.
“We will also forward their requests to relevant agencies,” he said.
He said he would propose that the government reduce the personal income tax for SMEs during the meeting next Monday. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will chair the meeting.
However, Phadermchai said there was no clear impact from the wage hike in the seven provinces to warrant a postponement in the other 70 provinces.
“The Central Wage Committee resolution has stipulated that a postponement is possible only in the event of bad economic conditions in Thailand or global economic turmoil,” he said.
