Posted on 23 Feb 2009
Despite the continuing fall in exports in January, the government still insists that
According to Deputy Prime Minister Kobsak Sabhavasu, at least 300 billion baht will be injected to help shore up the economy this year.
Farmers would benefit directly, he said, as the government plans to spend 120 billion baht to support commodity prices through intervention programmes.
The government is also committed to speeding up the spending of 100 billion baht in fiscal 2009 that has yet to be disbursed and the recently approved 117-billion-baht supplementary budget.
Mr Kobsak said the government also planned to implement its second stimulus measures in October, the start of the fiscal 2010 budget.
Recovering domestic tourism and restored confidence among foreign visitors following the government's many stimulus efforts would also support economic growth, he said.
"Confidence among foreign visitors will definitely increase if the Asean Summit [this coming weekend in Hua Hin] runs well and smoothly without any major obstacles," he said.
Former deputy prime minister Olarn Chaipravat was less optimistic. He projected that the Thai economy this year would contract by 4-5% based on the assumption that exports would shrink by 20% this year.
"Currently, no one knows when the Thai economy will reach its bottom," he said.
He said existing government stimulus measures were unlikely to be enough to spur real growth.
He suggested that the government focus more on stimulating domestic spending to offset lower export revenues and create demand to save employment.
He also recommended that the government open a forum for leading academics to propose solutions, as the problems may be too serious for the government alone to handle.
Dr Olarn also urged the government to make more use of the Asean forum and Asean free trade agreements.
"Closer co-operation in
