Interim Govt Gets Big Boost: Bt100bn For New Pm

[george]

Bt100bn for new PM

Interim govt gets big boost;

CDRM to reassure investors by approving Bt1.5 trillion 2007 budget

BANGKOK: -- The new interim prime minister is to get a budget of Bt100 billion to stimulate the economy, as the Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy (CDRM) moves to approve the Bt1.5-trillion budget for fiscal 2007 by Sunday.

"The new prime minister will have Bt100 billion to inject into the economy in time to shore up confidence," said a financial source.

The Finance Ministry and the Budget Bureau will meet today to work on the budget earmarked for spending between next month and September next year in order to assure investors and the business sector that the country's fiscal budget will not miss the normal schedule.

According to the source, the 2007 budget will run a deficit, with expenditure of Bt1.5 trillion against revenue of Bt1.4 trillion. The deficit of more than Bt100 billion is equivalent to about 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product.

The CDRM is currently the country's most powerful body, which can remove or make any laws. It is expected to approve the Bt1.5-trillion budget in time for spending by October.

There had been grave concern among investors and the business sector that the Thai economy might be seriously hurt by the absence of the 2007 budget from the delay in holding a general election.

Analysts had earlier expected the soonest the 2007 budget could be implemented was by the first quarter of next year.

But with the arrival of the CDRM, every law now can be created with a stroke of a pen. MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, the Bank of Thailand governor, said last week that one of the positive things of the interim government was that it could push out the 2007 budget in time.

An interim constitution is being formulated before a new prime minister and a new cabinet line-up can be named over the next one or two weeks.

Lt-General Palangkun Klaharn, the spokesman of the CDRM, yesterday moved to calm speculation as to who would be appointed the country's next prime minister.

He said the new prime minister was likely to be a surprise and that his name was not being widely circulated in the local press at the moment.

"I can't tell you now. I can only say that the person is not among those speculated in the media," said Palangkun, adding the interim PM would not be appointed over the next few days.

Political sources yesterday said Meechai Ruchuphan, the veteran lawyer, had emerged as a dark horse for the interim premiership.

"His name is a subject of intense discussion among the CDRM," one source said.

Meechai is currently in charge of drafting the interim constitution. But he has made a controversial move by bringing along Wissanu Krea-ngam and Bowornsak Uwanno, the two former secretary-generals in the Thaksin Cabinet, to take part in the drafting team.

The local press have been throwing around such names as Supachai Panitchpakdi, the director-general of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Pridiyathorn, Charnchai Likhitjittha, the retiring president of the Supreme Court, and Ackaratorn Chularat, the president of the Supreme Administrative Court, as potential candidates for the top job.

Meanwhile, the Campaign For Popular Democracy called on the CDRM to freeze the assets of the former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, in order to prevent his family from transferring the money or assets out of the country.

Once this is done the judicial process can begin to prove how Thaksin and his family acquired their wealth, the group said.

--The Nation 2006-09-25