New minister to carry on economic stimulus

BANGKOK, August 25 (TNA) - Thailand's New Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong says he will carry on economic stimulus measures, including those to support low-income earners. Speaking to reporters on his first working day on August 24, Apisak stressed that he will continue implementing the government’s macro-economic policy, covering investment on new infrastructure projects, to stimulate the national economy. Apisak acknowledged that two measures need to be urgently implemented, one on supporting the low-income earners to access to financial sources easily and the other on speeding up the disbursement of state budgets, especially those for funding small-scale projects, aimed to spread income distribution throughout the country. For the one aimed to support low-income earners, the new finance minister revealed that his ministry will discuss with local financial institutes and it is expected a picture of the move should become clear within a month, while the other on speeding up the disbursement of state budgets should benefit business operators and cushion the national economy in the short term, paving the way for sustaining the national economic growth in the long run. According to the new finance minister, he plans to also switch tax payments in the country from cash to an electronic system, in which his ministry will coordinate with concerned agencies, particularly the Bank of Thailand (BOT), in order to materialise the plan. Besides, his ministry will speed up a plan in which local business operators have only one account for their business transactions to facilitate their future business growth. The new finance minister mentioned, however, that every new government plan, including land and property taxation, needs to be reviewed before it is forwarded to the Cabinet for further consideration, pledging that he will continue a tax reform, as part of national preparations for the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), with greater business competition, by the end of this year. (TNA)