Bureaucrats to receive annual bonus soon

The Comptroller General Department’s Annual Bonus Committee will, on January 15, meet for this year’s final evaluation of civil servants’ performances before allocating them bonuses, TNA reported.

Deputy Comptroller-General, also its spokesperson, Pensri Tritup said that after a final conclusion, the department would notify each sector of the amount of bonus they should receive.

Immediately after, government sectors could withdraw the amount they are eligible to receive.

The five considerations the committee takes in deciding how civil servants receive their yearly bonuses are as follows:

1. Organization Development
2. Efficiency of each sector’s system
3. How the public rates their services
4. Fiscal management
5. How each sector benefits the country

Each civil servant, however, would receive no more than a month salary bonus, the news added. (TNA)

Automobile industry remains promising

The automobile industry remains promising, as total sales are expected to increase by 10% over last year, according to an industry executive.

Ninnart Chaitheerapinyo, president of the Federation of Thai Industries’ Automobile Industry Club, said this year’s total sales of vehicles are likely to rise by 10% from 290,000 units last year because of the decline in interest rates and fuel prices.

Also, the easing of the United States-led war on terrorism and the debt-restructuring process by Thai Asset Management Corporation, which has begun to regain momentum, have contributed to the industry growth.

However, the economic situation in the US and Japan needs to be closely assessed this year as well.

“Thailand is likely to resume the status as a major exporter of vehicles in the region in the next five years with total exports increasing to 500,000 units a year,” Ninnart said.

“Total sales reached the target of 290,000 units set for last year. It was revised downward from 300,000 units following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US. Total exports are 180,000 units, below the target of 200,000 units.”

He suggested the government reduce excise tax on new vehicles if it wants to boost industry growth amid the economic slowdown.

Currently, he said, the country’s excise tax imposed on vehicles is the second highest after that of Malaysia.

The tax reduction would not affect state revenue because the government could gain more taxes from related industries to offset the shortfall in vehicle tax revenue, he said. (TNA)

Government to focus on addressing poverty problem this year

The government will focus on addressing the poverty problem and other economic woes this year, according to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thaksin told TNA that his administration would put more weight on solving the poverty problem, and on stimulating the Thai economy in the year 2002.

The government would, at the same time, address social problems to maintain peace and order in the society, he stated.

Legal and bureaucratic restructuring would also be implemented to serve the new bureaucratic structure, which will be introduced on October 1, 2002, he said.

Key government polices will be continued as well, including the all-out Bt30 per hospital visit scheme, the people’s bank project, the village fund, and the debt suspension for farmers schemes, said the Thai leader. (TNA)

Former PM optimistic about economy this year

The country’s economy should pick up this year if the government’s stimulus measures are taken seriously without any graft and internal squabble, former prime minister Banharn Silpa-archa said.

He made the remarks in an apparent response to the opposition Democrat Party’s former secretary-general Sanan Kajornprasart’s comment that 2002 would be a dangerous year for economic problems.

Banharn said he personally believed the economy would improve, but needs to take time and rely on how efficiently the government could implement its economic stimulus package.

It was very likely the economy would recover if the cabinet meets twice a week to closely monitor measures to address the economic woes and there is no corruption and internal conflict within the government.

“Actually, the finance minister has tried his utmost to address the economic problems. A major obstacle for now is the commercial banks’ reluctance to lend for fears of non-performing loans. Also, the government must ensure political stability to restore confidence among foreign investors,” he said.

On the opposition’s move to file a no-confidence debate against the government, he said the political challenge would not have an impact on efforts to solve the economic malaise if politicians play it in a democratic way. (TNA)

Business News Briefs

Price of stamps to rise by Bt1

The minimum postal fee could rise from Bt2 to Bt3 next month before climbing to Bt4 at the beginning of the fiscal year 2004, a Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) source said recently.

The source said the postage increase, which is still subject to Cabinet approval, was intended to reduce the losses being shouldered by CAT for postal services. In 2000 alone, it lost more than Bt1 billion.

“The CAT postal section has long been operating at a loss and has had to depend on the profits from its telecom services,” the source said.

According to the source, the losses resulted from the fact that postal fees had not been adjusted to match their real cost for a long period of time. (TNA)

Somkid: GDP growth expected at 2-4%

Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said last week that gross domestic product growth in 2002 should stay in the range of 2-4 percent due to more-effective-than-expected stimulus measures from the government.

The Bank of Thailand projects the economy to grow 1-3 percent in 2002, while the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) forecasts the GDP growth at 2 percent.

Economists have said that the Thai economy this year would rely heavily on external factors, particularly the American economy. Moreover, they have also questioned the effectiveness of the government’s stimulus measures. (TNA)

Public debts to hit 60-65% of GDP

Thailand’s public debts are expected to hit 60-65 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the 2001/2002 fiscal year, due to slower-than-expected GDP growth, deputy prime minister and finance minister Somkid Jatusripitak said.

He, however, said that the level was manageable.

The government had previously set a public debt ceiling for the period through 2006 at 60 percent of GDP. Public debt stood at Bt2.931 trillion at the end of September, or 57.6 percent of GDP.

The country’s public debts raised sharply in the reign of Thaksin Shinawatra to stimulate domestic economic growth in a bid to cushion the impact from the global economic slowdown. (TNA)

Thai CPI (Dec) lower at 0.3%

Thailand’s consumer price index rose modestly in December from the previous year, but continues to shrink from the previous month on lower energy and food prices, according to the Commerce Ministry.

Siripol Yordmuangcharoen, director-general of the ministry’s internal trade department expects inflation to remain moderate in 2002.

December’s CPI fell 0.3 percent for the month, but gained 0.8 percent for the year relative to the 0.2 percent month-on-month fall and 1.0 percent rise year-on-year in November. (TNA)

TFB obtains Bt1.14bn from PPPC’s share sale

Thai Farmers Bank (TFB) has obtained Bt1.14 billion from the sale of a sizeable stake in Phoenix Pulp and Paper Plc (PPPC).

The country’s third largest bank reported that it has sold 17.15 million preferred shares and 6.65 million common shares in PPPC to Siam Pulp and Paper Plc (SPP) at the net price of Bt47.94 each. SPP is conducting a tender offer to buy the remaining shares in PPPC after it had bought 24.98 percent from Janpath Investments. (TNA)

Thai vehicle exports up 16% (Jan-Nov ’01)

Thai exports of assembled vehicles rose 16% year-on-year at 160,176 units for January to November 2001 period, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

The vehicle exports in value terms were worth Bt76.99 billion during the 11-month period, 35.5% more than in the year-ago period.

Thai automotive exports reached Bt98.51 billion, up 31.3 percent for the year with inclusion of the detached engines and parts, FTI said.

The vehicles exported accounted for 38.1 percent of the total number of vehicles assembled in Thailand during the period. (TNA)

MOI to protest against patenting of tuk tuk in UK

The Industry Ministry is coordinating efforts with other state agencies concerned to call for the revocation of a patent for tuk tuk vehicles taken by a private company in the United Kingdom.

Deputy Industry Minister Pichet Sathirachawal said the ministry was cooperating with the Commerce Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Intellectual Property Department in pressing for the end to the patent as soon as possible.

The tuk tuk is considered a national emblem of Thailand. The ministry planned to develop the tuk tuk as a national vehicle. Any move to patent it by foreign companies is therefore inappropriate, he said.

Pichet conceded there was a delay in patenting the tuk tuk because standards of the vehicle are being set. The proposed logo and brand name of tuk tuk could be finalized by the middle of this month.

“The development of the national tuk tuk needs to be made under standards that meet international criteria. So, we need time to develop it before it is patented.”

Deputy commerce minister Suwan Valaisathien said tuk tuks have been assembled in Thailand for 30 years. The word “tuk tuk” was patented by local private firms at the Intellectual Property Department one month ago.

He said the firms had the right to lodge a protest against the patenting of the word by a company in the UK within 90 days after the application of the patent is submitted. (TNA)

BOT set to weaken baht to boost exports

Bank of Thailand’s governor, M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula last week said the monetary and exchange rate policies adopted by the bank for this year would focus on making the baht weaken in order to boost exports.

Exports serve as a main driving force for the country’s economic growth, he said.

Although the local currency weakened last month, capital inflow was greater than outflow. Business operators seemed not to accelerate the repayment of foreign debts.

He said foreign loan holders had benefited from the baht appreciation in the second half of last year. The currency strengthened to around 45 to the dollar since June. So, the impact was not adverse when the baht weakened.

The BOT chief said the exchange rate management remained necessary because it could help the country in terms of trade, export, capital inflow and stability of the country’s external position.

M.R. Pridiyathorn said the continued weakening of Japanese yen was a cause for concern. The further drop in the yen might weaken the baht to an unsatisfactory level. The bank would have to revise the monetary policy if the incident really occurred.

Commenting on the use of euro as a single currency in the Europe Union, he said the move would not affect the management of the country’s international reserve as the bank’s officials concerned had closely monitored and managed the fund. (TNA)