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Thai PM Outlines Govt Policy, Promises to Revive Economy
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra delivered his government's policy statement Monday, promising to uplift the country's sluggish economic recovery.
"The most urgent task of government is to speed up the fixing of economic problems and to restructure the economic system and halt the recession," Thaksin told lawmakers in a joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Noting that the four key challenges facing Thailand are sluggish economy, poverty, narcotics and corruption, Thaksin said his government policy will be aimed at stimulating a sustainable recovery through government promotion of investments starting at the grass-roots level.
His government is also determined to resolve structural problems that cause poverty, building up basic security while creating new job opportunities to generate income for people at all levels, he said.
"The government will do everything in its power to create an opportunity for new life," Thaksin said, adding that "Thailand needs change in every dimension."
He said his government will maintain a deficit budget for a while to stimulate the economy and will adjust to a balanced budget when the economy grows.
Thaksin said his government's success would be measured by its ability to deliver on his Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party's policies promised during the election campaign.
The promises include a three-year debt moratorium for farmers, a one million baht (23,500 U.S. dollars) development fund for each of the 70,000 villages, the 30 baht (71 cents) flat fee for hospital visits as a national health insurance scheme and establishment of a national asset management corporation.
Among other pledges he made were to set up a people's bank and a small and medium-sized enterprises bank to grant loans to small businessmen, develop state enterprises to be run by professionals free from political intervention, establish drug rehabilitation centers along with narcotics suppression and prevention programs and encourage people's participation in preventing and suppressing corruption.
Thaksin also promised tax adjustment to spur growth in his policy statement, saying his government will adjust the tax system to stimulate the economy, and also help the recovery of financial institution, encourage the long-term competitiveness of financial institutions and improve investment and the money markets.
In an editorial on Monday local English newspaper The Nation said the policy statement is possibly the "best-worded" one from a government ever.
Previous statements have been largely drafted by borrowing content from the National Economic and Social Development Board, the country's planning agency, the newspaper said.
"The policy statement is clear enough in providing a framework to judge the performance of the government," and it is also "a demonstration that the government is prepared to tackle some difficult issues that have prevented the country from moving forward for a long time," the editorial said.
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