Balance is key to sustainable economy, Kittiratt tells seminar

The government is geared towards a balance of economic growth, income distribution and price stability to avoid imbalances that could spark a crisis like those in the United States and Europe, “… in the past many countries had focused solely on growth. The Thai government, however, is committed to a balanced economy for sustainable growth.” Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said.

He said there were 4 pillars on which to achieve this goal: increased export through opening of new markets, a strong fiscal position, promotion of private investment, and boosted domestic consumption.

On the fiscal position, he said the budget deficit in the 2014 fiscal year would be narrowed to Bt225 billion or 2 per cent of gross domestic product, “which will make Thailand one of the countries with the lowest deficit-to-GDP ratios”. The deficit in the 2013 fiscal year is set at Bt300 billion. The government is also committed to achieving a balanced budget in 2016.

Foreign-exchange and interest policies will be deployed to create a favourable environment for investment, aside from the cut in the corporate-income-tax rate.

“The global economy has been facing problems and we need to design the Thai economy to be in balance with the four mechanisms. The global economic problems will ease in the next years and the Thai economy will benefit with complete infrastructure and economic stability,” Kittiratt said.

Virabongsa Ramangkura, chairman of the Bank of Thailand and of the Strategic Committee for Recon-struction and Future Development, said the central bank expected the Thai economy to see 5.7-per-cent growth in GDP this year and another 4.6 per cent next year. (Follow below link for full article)

Excerpted from The Nation, December 1, 2012

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