BANGKOK, Thailand : Thailand exported US$6.6 billion (280 billion

BANGKOK, Thailand : Thailand exported US$6.6 billion (280 billion baht) worth of goods in March, setting an all-time monthly record, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Saturday.

Speaking in his weekly radio address, Thaksin said that in the first three months of this year, exports were up 21.7 percent over the same period last year.

"In the first quarter, the economy of Thailand grew well, well beyond 6 percent," he said, referring to its gross domestic product. He did not give an exact figure.

Thaksin has been saying for months that Thailand's GDP would increase by 6 percent this year.

Earlier this month, he lowered that projection to 5 percent because of the effects of the SARS virus outbreak, which has badly hurt tourism, a major earner of foreign exchange.

Other projections for economic growth this year have been slightly more modest. The National Economic and Social Development Board, the government's main planning body, has projected 4 percent to 5 percent growth this year, compared to 5.2 percent last year.

The U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific recently cut its GDP growth forecast for Thailand this year to 4.2 percent from an earlier 4.5 percent, citing the impact from SARS - severe acute respiratory syndrome - and the Iraq war. --AP

Germany likely cut growth projection

BERLIN : The German government will likely cut its official economic growth projection for this year to 0.75 percent, officials said on Friday.

An Economics Ministry spokeswoman declined to name a new target but sources said projected GDP would likely be cut by 0.25 of a percentage point from the current official prediction of 1 per cent growth.

This would still be higher than the mere 0.3 percent growth for Germany predicted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Germany's six leading economic institutions which earlier this month put 2003 growth at 0.5 percent.

Last year the German economy was almost stagnant with 0.2 percent growth. --DPA

Treasurer forecasts budget surplus

SYDNEY, Australia: Australia's finance minister said on Sunday the government will deliver a budget surplus of more than A$2 billion (US$1.2 billion).

Speaking on Australian Broadcasting Corp. television, Peter Costello said the surplus followed a year when the government had been restricted by its military commitment to Iraq, high oil prices and a crippling drought.

"We will deliver on that small surplus, but with all of those factors being taken into account, it's not as if this is going to be one of our strongest years," he said.

"But if we can get through a year like that with a surplus I think it will be a pretty major achievement."

The federal budget will be handed down on May 13.

Costello said the U.S. government was running a fiscal deficit of about 3 percent, Britain was about 2 percent to 3 percent and most of Europe had a deficit of more than 3 percent.

"There won't be many developed countries in the world who'll be running a surplus this year, and Australia will be one of them," he said. --AP

Iraq oil ministry still waiting for boss

BAGHDAD : Iraq's oil ministry is getting ready to resume operations in this vital sector for reconstruction, but it is still waiting for a leader, a senior ministry official said.

Some 20 percent of the ministry's staff in Baghdad have returned to work, as well as 75 percent of staff at the capital's refinery, in the southwestern suburb of al-Dora, said the official.

"We are waiting for somebody with clear authority, someone who is authorized to spend" and repair the damage done, he said.

The former minister, general Amer Rasheed, is on the list of wanted Iraqi officials and has not been heard of since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, when U.S. forces captured the capital on April 9.

The New York Times said on Friday the Pentagon had begun sending a team of Iraqi exiles to Baghdad to take up positions at each of the 23 ministries.

The senior Iraqi at the oil ministry will be Muhammed Ali Zainy, an engineer, said the newspaper. Oil sources here said Zainy was in charge of the finance department of the ministry when he left Iraq in the 1980s. --AFP

Pakistan reschedules privatization of state oil company

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Privatization Commission has rescheduled the opening of bidding for the sale of a major stake in a state- run company which controls 70 percent of the petroleum products business, officials said on Saturday.

The opening of tenders was earlier scheduled for Saturday, but was postponed to facilitate travel plans of prospective buyers at their request, they said.

Officials said the bidding would now take place in eight to ten weeks.

The sale of Pakistan State Oil is one of the most lucrative offers on the government's list of state run units it wants to disinvest to shore up revenues.

Two Middle Eastern outfits, the Kuwait Petroleum Company and Midrock of Saudi Arabia, plus Pakistan's Fauji Foundation have emerged as the main bidders. --AFP