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Revenue collection for the fiscal year ending in September 2024 fell 4-5 billion baht short of government targets due to the stronger baht, impacting VAT from imports.

 

According to finance permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit, the baht appreciated rapidly in the last two weeks of the fiscal year, reducing the baht value of imports like oil, leading to a dip in VAT revenue. Import values in baht terms dropped, causing the shortfall.

 

Lavaron noted that without currency fluctuations, revenue would have likely hit targets. He assured that despite the reduced collections, government spending would remain stable as budget usage rarely hits 100%.

 

For fiscal 2024, government expenditure was earmarked at 3.48 trillion baht against projected revenue of 2.78 trillion, leaving a budget deficit. The coming fiscal year 2025 follows a similar pattern, proposing expenditure of 3.75 trillion baht with expected revenue of 2.88 trillion, again falling short.

 

The Revenue Department is tasked with collecting 2.37 trillion baht of the projected revenue, while Thailand's Excise Department is set for 609 billion baht. Meanwhile, Lavaron attended an event recognising educational institutions with impressive student loan repayments from the Student Loan Fund (SLF).

 

Recent SLF law amendments have improved repayments by restructuring debt obligations to favour the principal over interest payments.

 

In the last academic year, SLF repayments increased by 10% to hit 25 billion baht. Loans granted peaked at 52 billion baht. Fund manager Chainarong Katchapanan highlighted successful debt restructuring offers, which motivate more repayments by extending terms and temporarily shelving penalties.

 

Over 200,000 borrowers from 2 million eligible benefitted, with plans to extend restructuring options to state financial entities, reported Bangkok Post.

 

-- 2024-10-30