Thai government revenues higher than target

BANGKOK, May 31 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Finance reports that the government's revenues in the first seven months of the 2019 fiscal year were higher than the earlier target based on its present fiscal budget framework. Finance Ministry Spokesman Lawan Sangsanit, who is also Director-General of the ministry's Fiscal Policy Office (FPO, told journalists on May 30 that the Thai government's revenues during the first seven months of the 2019 fiscal year, from October 2018 to April 2019, stood at about 1.35 trillion baht, a 3.4 per cent year-on-year increase or a 2.7 per cent higher than the earlier target based on its 2019 fiscal budget framework. The spokesman attributed the Thai government's increased revenues in the present fiscal year so far to taxes and customs tariffs collected by his ministry's Revenue Department and Customs Department, as well as proportional yearly revenues legally contributed by state enterprises. Meanwhile, FPO Spokesman Pornchai Theeravet said that Thailand's fiscal economy kept expanding last month, observed by the growing value-added tax (VAT), collected by his ministry, and imported consumer goods, as well as increased sale volumes of sedans on the domestic market by 16.9 per cent year-on-year. Besides, the national economy remained stable in April with low levels inflation and unemployment rates at 1.2 per cent and 1.1 per cent of Thailand's total work force respectively, while the public debt stood at 41.8 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).(TNA)