Bangkok Tightens Its Belt

[george]

Bangkok tightens its belt

Sharp drop in tax income slices big hole in city's budget

BANGKOK: -- City Hall is aiming to tighten its belt after a sharp drop in income from taxes collected by the government. BMA spokesman Tharadol Biempongsan said the city's income from government taxes this fiscal year was proฌjected at Bt24.56 billion in comparison to last year's Bt33.48 billion.

However, the BMA is projecting a rise in income from its own taxes to Bt11.4 billion for this fiscal year, Bt50 million more than expected. Overall though, said Tharadol, the city's earnings are expected to fall short of the target for 2009 by Bt10 billion. The BMA expects to fall short of the target for next year (2010/'11) - when it has projected expenses of Bt39 billion - by Bt6 billionBt7 billion.

Tharadol said possible belttightening moves included cancelling or suspending problematic projects, not approving proposals for advance withdrawals from budget funds, and cutting costs by 10 per cent in the budget for services and materials. The city would hold the publicsector wage bill at less than 40 per cent of its overall budget, he said Bt2.8 billion less than last year.

To compensate for the shrinking income, it would also attempt to increase income from petrol, cigarette and hotel checkin taxes by at least 5 per cent, or Bt400 million, Tharadol said, and better manage its properties for higher profits.

-- The Nation 2009-06-11