harris campaign, clean up on aisle Electoral College

[webfact]

FREEZE VAT
VAT freeze to stay for another year
Erich Parpart
The Nation


Prime Minister Prayuth

BANGKOK: -- THE CABINET has approved a Finance Ministry proposal to maintain the value added tax (VAT) at 7 per cent until September 30, 2016, as the economy is still considered sluggish and the government does not want to add burden on the public's purchasing power.

At yesterday's meeting, the Cabinet also approved a Transport Ministry proposal to construct three motorways at a cost of Bt160.42 billion, along with the agenda for the 2nd Thailand-Vietnam Joint Trade Committee meeting later this month.

The VAT was supposed to have been increased last year as the revenue code estimated that the rate should be 10 per cent; however, the National Council for Peace and Order issued an order on October, 2014, to maintain the rate at 7 per cent until September 30, 2015, amid an economic slowdown in the first half of 2014.

The government had expected the economy to expand by 3.5-4.8 per cent this year but the current consensus from the Bank of Thailand and the National Economic and Social Development Board is that the gross domestic product will only be able to expand by 3-3.5 per cent this year.

"The prime minister and the Cabinet believe the government should not add anymore burden on the people's purchasing power amid the tightened economic situation but warned that this is only a short-term measure since the prices of products are increasing and the prolonging of the VAT at this rate would not truly reflect the real prices of consumer products in the long run and people will not save for the future," Sansern Kaewkamnerd, deputy government spokesman, said after the Cabinet meeting yesterday.

The Cabinet also approved a Transport Ministry proposal to construct three motorways at a cost of Bt160.42 billion to decrease traffic congestion and increase connectivity from industrial zones to the capital.

The three projects achieved environmental impact assessment approval in 1998 and 2003 while the expropriation process was completed in 2013.

The first motorway will be from Nonthaburi's Bang Yai district to Kanchanaburi. The 96-kilometres route will have four lanes and the construction cost, plus land survey cost, is estimated at Bt55.62 billion. The construction for the first phase is expected to start next year and be finished by 2019.

The second route is from Ayutthaya's Bang Pa-in district to Nakhon Ratchasima in the Northeast. The 196-kilometre road will have four to six lanes and will cost Bt84.6 billion. The construction is expected to begin next year and be completed by 2020.

The Finance Ministry is in charge of gathering capital domestically to fund the construction of the first two routes. The private sector is not expected to be interested in the projects since the toll collections will be very low. All the land survey costs for the three routes will be charged to the fiscal budget of each year.

The third route will be from Pattaya to Rayong's Ban Chang district, passing through Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate. The 33-kilometre road will have four lanes and will cost Bt20.2 billion. The cost of the construction will be paid by the toll-fee fund that has been accumulated by the Inter City Motorway Division of the Department of Highways.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet also approved the topics up for discussion at the 2nd Thailand-Vietnam Joint Trade Committee to be held on July 20-22 in Bangkok. The Commerce Ministry will represent the Thai side.

The highlights of agreements to be introduced by the Thai side include increasing the value of bilateral trade to US$20 billion (Bt680.9 billion) by 2020, cooperation in the production of value-added agricultural products, the push to increase connectivity between Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, cooperation in banking, intellectual property rights, and bilateral trade strategy from 2015-2020.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/VAT-freeze-to-stay-for-another-year-30264440.html


-- The Nation 2015-07-15

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Did they just got financing for the 3 subs or?