Thai government not to introduce 2nd-round economic stimulus measures

BANGKOK, February 7 (TNA) - The Thai government has no plan to implement its second-round economic stimulus measures, as the first-round measures are bearing fruit to spur the national economy. Reiterating that the Thai government would not introduce its second batch of economic stimulus measures to boost the Thai economy, Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula told journalists on Friday that capital inflows plus domestic spending have improved sharply since early this year. MR Pridiyathorn pointed out that the Thai government was able to collect the value-added tax (VAT) up to about 40 billion baht in January 2015, up sharply from the last quarter of 2014, when the interim administration collected around 32.8–34.3 billion baht monthly. MR Pridiyathorn estimated that domestic spending should be as high as 570 billion baht in January alone, attributing the higher collection of VAT to positive impacts from a drop in global oil prices, the government’s 48.5-billion-baht-subsidy to local farmers, the construction of 2,026 new factories with their combined investment fund of 238 billion baht, in which about 99,000 workers are employed. The deputy prime minister noted that about 1,200 more factories would be constructed with their combined investment fund of 250 billion baht, in which about 60,000 more jobs would be created. According to the deputy prime minister, ministries have also been urged to accelerate their budget spending for the current 2015 fiscal year, starting from October 1, 2014, in which more than 400 billion baht was allocated to them. (TNA)