BANGKOK, 4 July 2014 – Chief of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha has set out to stimulate the domestic economy and expedite budget disbursements in a bid to accelerate the annual GDP growth to 2 percent.
In his weekly TV program “Return Happiness to the People”, Gen Prayuth vowed that the NCPO would strive to bring about a GDP growth of 2 percent this year, as opposed to the 1.5 percent projection made by the Bank of Thailand earlier. He said the focus would be placed on economic stimulus measures, especially those designed to assist low-income earners.
According to the NCPO Chief, financial institutions have been urged to help promote investment by offering soft loans while the NCPO is trying to keep the baht from appreciating for the benefit of the Thai export sector.
In regard to the disbursement of the 2014 budget, Gen Prayuth revealed that more than 50 billion baht in the coffers had not been used. He affirmed that he would speed up the allocation process while some of the remaining amount might be transferred to the water management and flood prevention project, which was considered an urgent agenda.
