Next year's general election to boost Thai economy

BANGKOK, November 3 (TNA) - Thailand's next general election has been set in late 2015, which should boost the national economy to grow by 4-5 per cent next year. Deputy Prime Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, who supervises economic affairs, made the projection at a seminar, entitled the "AEC+3 Summit 2014", held in Bangkok on Monday. MR Pridiyathorn said the government is confident that Thailand's new general election should be organized in late 2015 as planned with no possible obstacles foreseen, as national reforms in various areas and work on electoral laws have been on progress. MR Pridiyathorn even assessed that Thailand's economic growth rate should reach 5 per cent in 2015 on the condition that the government's new mega investment projects, especially those in transport infrastructure development, happens as planned. According to the deputy prime minister, Thai exports should also further expand next year, thanks to the world economic recovery, which should be a supportive factor, while main factors to stimulate the Thai economy should be the government's investment and domestic consumption. The deputy premier acknowledged, however, that the Thai economy should expand by only 1.6-1.9 per cent year-on-year this year due to a delay in the government's new mega investment projects and a slowdown in Thai exports. The deputy prime minister opined that the interim government's implementation of second batch-economic stimulus measures appears to be unnecesary, as its financial assistance of 1,000 baht per rai (2.5 rais=1 acre) for about 3.4 million households of rice farmers and its allocation of a 23-billion baht-state budget to fund the construction of school buildings should enter the domestic economic system by December 2014 and their merits on the national economy should be obvious in the first quarter of next year.(TNA)