PM:Thailand will closely monitor European debt crisis

BANGKOK, October 10 (TNA) - Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says her government is closely monitoring the ongoing European debt crisis, with concerned ministers and authorities having been ordered to keep assessing the situation. Yingluck told journalists Wednesday morning, before a meeting with concerned officials of nine ministries tasked with following up the European economic crisis, that she has had the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) and staffs of the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the Ministry of Finance to monitor the situation closely. Yingluck said she will, from now on, call meetings with the agencies concerned biweekly to keep assessing the situation closely. Besides, she has ordered Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong to analyze the situation on a weekly basis. According to the prime minister, relevant agencies participating in Wednesday’s meeting of the nine ministries concerned, which have formed a working group to follow up the European economic crisis, include the Ministries of Finance, Tourism and Sports, Foreign affairs, Education and Public Health. Meanwhile, Kittirat told a seminar on global economic risks and the outlook of the Thai economy that the Thai government has tried to depend on the domestic economy, instead of Thai exports which have been declining due to the global economic slowdown. Kittirat acknowledged that he has, however, informed credit rating agencies of updated Thai economic information, including a public debt management plan and the infrastructure investment which will start next year. According to the deputy premier, although Thailand's public debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio is now above 40 per cent, it is below the Finance Ministry's ceiling of 60 per cent set to maintain national fiscal stability. Besides, the deputy premier said, the Thai government plans to reduce its budget deficit from 300 billion baht in the 2013 fiscal year to 250 billion baht in the 2014 fiscal year. (TNA)