Finance chief Uttama orders officials to study proposal for sustainable equity fund

By THE NATION

 

Uttama Savanayana

 

Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana has told the Fiscal Policy Office to study a proposal from an investment grouping that a sustainable equity fund (SEF) be set up to replace the long-term fund (LTF).

 

 

The study will focus on how the SEF can play a crucial role in encouraging people to save and further enhance the capital markets, Uttama said. 

 

The proposal to establish the SEF was put forward by the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organisations (FETCO).

 

Uttama said that the issue of whether the tax benefits for LTF investors would be cancelled had yet to be finalised. If the granting of the tax benefits continued, it should be awarded via a new kind of fund. 

 

It is envisaged that the new fund would encourage individuals to direct their savings into the capital markets.

 

Separately, Uttama said that the ministry supported the establishment of the National Pension Fund (NPF) and the e-business law. The bills to enable both laws will be forwarded to the Council of State for scrutiny.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30374541

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-08-10

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On 8/10/2019 at 7:53 AM, rooster59 said:

The study will focus on how the SEF can play a crucial role in encouraging people to save and further enhance the capital markets

Hard to encourage people to save when Thailand now has the world's highest income inequality.

When the minimum daily wage has never even stayed even with inflation.

When the demand for unskilled labor has dropped due to a substantial decrease in export of agriculture products (durian aside).

The solution isn't setting up a SEF because the cause is much more deeper.

Uttama is essentially proposing to add another smoke stack to the Titanic while the ship sinks.