BANGKOK, 17 May 2012 – The deputy prime minister in charge of the economy has assured that Thai economy will be safe from the financial crisis in Europe, despite heavy stock market losses.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said on Wednesday that the Thai stock market has suffered serious losses because of investors’ worries about the financial crisis in the EU.
However, Mr. Kittiratt is confident that such issues will not have any serious impact on the Thai economy, whose fundamentals remain strong.
He said that the market losses will be short-lived while expressing belief that the Thai stock market will end up offering impressive returns over the long term.
The deputy prime minister is also convinced that Thai export growth will hit its target of 15 percent this year, despite problems in the EU, due to high purchasing power in Asia and Thailand’s timely adjustment of its marketing policies.
Mr. Kittiratt went on to say that the government is speeding up the disbursement of its 2012 fiscal budget, as nearly 60 percent of the allocation remain in the state coffer while less than 5 months remain before the current fiscal year ends.
He also assured that the state revenue collection target of 1.98 trillion baht will be achieved before the end of October, even though the country’s tax restructuring plan has not been implemented.
