Thai government plans balanced budget after 2013

BANGKOK, February 2 (TNA) - Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong said Thursday that Thailand's state budget of the 2013 fiscal year will bear a smaller deficit than the 2012 fiscal year, paving the way for a balanced budget afterward, as planned by the Thai government. After opening a meeting of executives from budget bureaus, finance ministries and central banks of member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok, Kittirat told reporters if people’s consumption, investment and Thai exports improved, a balanced budget could even be achieved sooner. Kittirat acknowledged that since 1997, the Thai government has had few investment projects and has not implemented any mega construction project, suggesting that government investment should account for about 25 per cent of its annual budget. Regarding the Thai government’s plan to raise a 50-billion-baht flood insurance fund, the deputy premier said when flood prevention projects of the government took shape, confidence would improve among insurers, which would enable reinsurance with overseas firms and, consequently, there would be sufficient insurance coverage, cautioning, however, that without concrete investment in flood prevention, the 50-billion-baht insurance fund would not be enough. (TNA)