Thai Finance Ministry Heeds IMF Warning Of Continued World Economic Struggle

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Finance Ministry Heeds IMF Warning of Continued World Economic Struggle

The Fiscal Policy Office is urging the government to stimulate the economy according to the suggestions put forward by the International Monetary Fund in order to ebb the impact of the global economic crisis.

Narit Chaiyasuit, President of the Fiscal Policy Office, commented on the International Monetary Fund or IMF, warning that the global economy is on thin ice once again.

He said every country, not just the U.S. and the EU member countries, should take heed of the warning, since it's a problem that will take years to repair.

He said conventional financial policies cannot be applied to solve the problem, and the U.S. may resort to launching the third round of the quantitative easing program, which will have a severe impact on the Thai exports and capital inflow.

The effects will cause the baht to appreciate, which will severely hurt Thai export.

Narit urged the government to be prepared for when exports plunge according to the IMF's warning.

The governemtn should stimulate the domestic economy to make up for losses in overseas trade. He is confident enacted financial policies will not have an impact on the currently solid financial structure.

Thailand's public debt at the end of June 2011 was at 4.26 trillion baht or 40.7 percent of the GDP, while its international reserves are valued 187 billion U.S. dollars, which is 3.6 times higher than the floating debt and can be used to cope with the volatile global economic climate.

The Fiscal Policy Office has forecast that the government's policy to slash fuel levies for the Oil Fund will cut inflation by 0.5 percent per month, with the policies to raise wages and reduce cost of living not taken into consideration.

The Thai economy last month grew solidly, mainly due to exports which were valued at 21.5 billion U.S. dollars, or a record-high 38.3% growth.

Tourist arrivals increased by 18.8 % or 1.5 million people despite it being low season.

July's headline inflation expanded by 4.1 percent and core inflation grew 2.6 percent.

The unemployment rate is at a mere 0.4 percent or 163,000 people.

The Fiscal Policy Office president is confident the overall economy will grow in the third quarter with the auto industry expanding its production.

The Finance Ministry will submit an economic report in September with an expected forecast of a 4 to 5 percent growth.

-- Tan Network 2011-08-31

[OzMick]

PTP doesn't need advice from the IMF, they get their orders advice from Thaksin, the world's foremost economic expert. How many times did his personal wealth multiply while he was in office? And the country did alright too, except for the curtailing or loss of a few freedoms and rights.

Even neighbouring countries benefitted from his economic wisdom. Myanmar got heaps of out-of-date communications gear that was a lot better than the stuff they had, and all they had to do was sign a soft-loan agreement that nobody expects them ever to repay.