BANGKOK, 20 June 2012 – The Cabinet has mulled a set of emergency moves to help the country battle any fallout from the Euro-zone debt crisis.
Deputy government spokesperson Anusorn Iamsa-ad said on Tuesday that the weekly Cabinet meeting raised the issues of the debt crisis within the Euro zone and decided to formulate 10 moves to cope with the impact on the Thai financial sector.
The Cabinet agreed to urge all related agencies to keep a close watch on the situation in Greece, where it believes the problems there may get out of control and soon hit the global economy.
It also called for an appropriate monetary policy to prevent any capital outflow, while all financial institutions should prepare contingency programs to handle any effect of the crisis to safeguard the baht and the local economy.
Mr. Anusorn added that the Cabinet also instructed the Finance Ministry to be proactive about any impact of the crisis on the Stock Exchange of Thailand while ordering the Commerce Ministry to prepare an analysis on Thai exports to all European markets in order to prepare any assistance Thai entrepreneurs, especially SME operators, may need.
In addition, the Commerce Ministry and the Foreign Ministry as well as other related offices are told to keep a close contact with all European governments and concerned agencies so that Thailand will be timely alert in case any trade barrier is devised against the country during the time of the crisis.
Moreover, the Cabinet has instructed the Labor Ministry to prepare assistance to workers, who may have been let go of by plants, which are affected by the situation in Europe.
The deputy government spokesperson said that all 9 economic-related ministries, including Commerce, Finance, Agriculture, Transport, Tourism, Energy, Foreign, Labor and Industry, are to hold a weekly meeting, to be chaired by Deputy PM Kittiratt Na-Ranong, to discuss the issues, while the Finance Ministry, the Bank of Thailand and the National Economic and Social Development Board will have to set up a joint working committee to regularly update the Prime Minister on the situation.
Lastly, the weekly meeting has urged all parties to turn the crisis into an opportunity by speeding up all projects that will help attract foreign funds into the country, while the world is looking for places other than Europe to invest in.
