Thai govt reforming revenue generation to repay Covid debt: Finance minister
The government is reforming revenue generation to repay the huge debt it built up with schemes to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 in the past two years, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith revealed on Thursday.
During a special talk organised by Krungthep Turakij and Thansettakij, Arkhom said the government had borrowed more than 1.5 trillion baht to tackle the Covid-19 crisis, causing public debt to increase.
He added that people were also suffering from rising household debt after more than two years of Covid-19 hardship.
"We have to repay debt when we are in debt," he said.
The government is now reforming its revenue generation to increase its ability to repay the debt, Arkhom added.
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a tax on trading in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
The plan to tax SET traders has been around for 30 years but successive governments have waived it to support market development.
The move, which was proposed by the Finance Ministry, is expected to generate 10-20 billion baht per year for the government.
Arkhom said debt repayment potential is important for both the government and the people.
"If we borrow more cash, it will cause inflation to rise, and our currency will weaken compared to the US dollar," he said.
He said the government has also launched debt restructuring measures, such as switching debt from short term to long term, seeking low-interest loans and mitigating volatility in currency exchange.
The government’s revenue reform come as Thailand faces economic challenges including high inflation, falling exports and lower-than-expected tax revenue. The government projects inflation at 6% this year, well above the Bank of Thailand’s 3% target. Exports also dropped 4.4% year-on-year in October while tax revenue in the third quarter fell 5% short of the target.
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