New Cabinet line-up urged to take care of Thai baht, exports

BANGKOK, June 27 (TNA) - The Thai private sector has urged the new Cabinet line-up, expected to be soon announced, to take care of the Thai baht value and exports. SCG President Kan Trakulhoon acknowledged in a public forum in Bangkok on Thursday that negative impacts on Thai exports from the baht appreciation since early this year were seen more obviously in April and May, calling for the new Cabinet line-up to protect local business operators from adverse impacts of capital flows, which have mainly led to the strong baht, as the private sector plays important roles in the national economy. The SCG president warned of possible external risk factors, noting although the US economy has started picking up, overseas purchase orders should not have any positive impact on Thai exports in the near future, as the Chinese economy has started to have problems. The SCG president pointed out that a clear sign of the government's new mega-investment in transport and water management projects could boost confidence in the private sector. Chairman of Sea Value Group Poj Aramwattananont urged in the same forum that new economic ministers seriously support Thai exports and refrain from causing more problems to business operators, as the government's 300-baht daily minimum wage hike has already been implemented. The Sea Value Group chairman also called on the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Thailand (BOT) to cooperate on bath value solutions and the government to ensure transparency in its new 2-trillion-baht infrastructure development schemes, covering 350-billion-baht water management schemes, and to solve its weak points over the past two years. (TNA)