|
|
![]() |
|
Thaksin upholds dual-track policy to accomplish balanced growth.
|
|
Date October 1, 2003 | |
|
|
|
![]() |
Thaksin upholds dual-track policy to accomplish balanced growth
Briefing from the speech delivered by the Prime Minister
to the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand on October 1, 2003 |
| |
|
The Prime Minister began the speech by addressing series of detrimental effects on macroeconomic situation such as the economic crisis in 1997, and recent international dilemmas that not only have severely hampered the Thai government's efforts to strive for recovery but also was a serious test to the validity and effectiveness of its policies. |
| |
|
Over two and a half years in office, the economic policies adopted by the government have been proven to be feasible, as macroeconomic indicators have demonstrated, even though the Prime Minister admitted that he implemented them with a risk, but it was a calculated one based on facts/figures and analyses. |
| |
|
In particular, the Prime Minister is quite confident that by the end of 2003, the annual growth would be at least 6 per cent in spite of all the negative effects of SARS and the Iraq war, a significant revival from 10 % negative growth in 1998. |
| |
|
The Prime Minister continued to applaud the administration by pinpointing several convalescences in economic indicators. Leading the forefront of this upturn are improvements in capital outflows, the current account surplus, and international reserves. In addition, the complete repayment of all the IMF loans at the end of this July, two years ahead of schedule has spurred further credibility to the nation. Consequently, external debt has now been curtailed by more than half to be at $ 53 billion with its ratio to GDP impressively being under 50 %. Progresses have also been achieved in the agricultural as well as industrial sector with overall increases in prices of farm products, farm income, and exports. As unemployment likely to further decline to 1.4 % this year, foreign investment to bounce back, and domestic consumption to remain high, the outlook of Thailand seems bright. |
| |
|
It is not only economic policies but also social schemes that the government has placed on a high priority in its agenda. Full-scale wars have been waged on the three fronts, namely, war on poverty, war against two social vicious crimes, i.e. narcotics, and corruption. |
| |
|
The Prime Minister believes that dual-track development policy has succeeded in terms of both social objectives and capital management. In essence, the policy endeavors to enhance the country's comparative advantage through the government's initiation to restructure the capital and production system to instigate opportunities for the underprivileged segment of the society. |
| |
|
The final theme of the speech was on tax revenue, where the Prime Minister emphasized that total taxes collected for the 11 months of the past fiscal year were already 13 per cent higher than previous years with tax collection from rural areas having risen by 18 per cent, as a result of new entrepreneurial activities that stemmed from greater access to capital and opportunities. |
| |
- If interested in viewing other topics, please click here for the lists of special topics.
|
|
|
 |
|
The interpretations and conclusions given represent those of the authors. They
do not necessarily reflect the view of the Royal Thai Government, its
departments or other related institutions.
Thailand Investor
Service Center (TISC)
Tipco Tower, 33rd Floor,
118/1 Rama 6 Road, Samsen Nai, Phayathai, Bangkok 10400
Tel. +66(0) 2357-3490, Fax. +66(0) 2357-3533
Copyright © 2009,
ThailandOutlook.com. All rights reserved.
|
|