Government to select best loan for Thailand's high-speed rail project

BANGKOK, March 25 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Finance, plans to select a best financial source to fund its investment in the construction of the country's first high-speed railway, set to start later this year. Thai Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong told journalists on Friday that his ministry plans to first consider borrowing money from domestic sources to finance the construction of the first high-speed railway project, linking Bangkok with Nakhon Ratchasima Province or Korat in the Thai Northeast through Kaeng Khoi in the central Saraburi Province. Apisak reasoned that domestic liquidity is now considered sufficient and high enough to fund the 250-kilometre rail project, based on low-level interest rates in the country currently. Besides, Apisak noted, inviting potential private investors to co-invest with the government in the form of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is considered another alternative through several ways, including borrowing money from Thailand Future Fund. The finance minister said, however, that the Thai government will also consider borrowing from a financial source overseas if it offers the lower interest rate, compared to domestic sources. According to the finance minister, it is too soon now to say how much money is needed for investing in the entire 250-kilometre-per-hour electric train project, the operational and management plan of which is believed to have already been mapped out by the Thai Ministry of Transport. (TNA)