Thai finance chief vows to curb economic slide
Thai finance chief vows to curb economic slide
BANGKOK (Reuters): New Finance Minister Kosit Panpiemras said yesterday he would try to stop Thailand's economic crisis from worsening by maintaining strict fiscal discipline in the short time he expects to be in office.
He also pledged to adhere to the tough austerity measures required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a US$17.2-billion bailout package that the world body arranged for Thailand to beat its worst economic crisis in decades.
The new minister, who replaced Thanong Bidaya in a cabinet reshuffle last Friday, said he would carefully review projects that require high spending and avoid some of them if necessary to maintain austerity. He gave no details.
Kosit is seen by analysts as a stopgap finance minister before the country goes to the polls in a few months. Elections are expected to be called soon after Parliament passes new electoral laws required by the constitution adopted on Oct. 11.
"I laid out my policies to my officials today and told them to be united and coordinated in their work and to adhere 100 percent to fiscal discipline," he told reporters after meeting ministry staff on his first day at work.
"I also told them to try to uphold the economy so that it does not worsen further, and prepare over the next three months to hand over the job to any new government that comes in," he said.
Reaction
The Thai stock market and the baht gave muted reaction to Kosit's statements. The stock index at 0438 GMT was down 1.98 points at 492.02, with sentiment dampened by a tumble in Hong Kong's Hang Seng index.
The baht held about steady at 38.45/38.55 per dollar as exporters moved into the market to buy baht.
Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh has promised to get parliament to pass three electoral laws as required under Thailand's new constitution to enable fresh elections to be held early next year.
The new laws would be perused by the cabinet before being sent to a special sitting of parliament on Nov. 6 to Nov. 7 for debate and approval.
"I have about two or three months only to work and I believe I can stay in my post for that time. Before I came to take the job I talked to two deputy prime ministers, Virabongsa Ramangkura and Korn Dabbaransi, and both assured me there would be no political interference in my job," Kosit said.
Interference
Kosit is the third unelected finance minister in Chavalit's 11-month-old, six-party ruling coalition government. The others quit, citing political interference in their jobs.
Kosit said that if the weak baht remained stable, as it has for the past two or three weeks, it would be good for his job and the national economy.
His other priorities were to look into hefty spending cuts promised by the government in the 1997/98 (October-September) budget and to appoint staff to run the Financial Restructuring Agency (FRA) that was set up by special decree last week to manage the good assets of 58 suspended finance firms.
The government has agreed to cut 159 billion baht (US$4.2 billion) from the budget and raise taxes on imported goods to meet the austerity measures required by the IMF to put the economy back on track.
"I will proceed on two immediate tasks this week. The first one is about the budget and the FRA. On the FRA, I need to seek people to work in it, while on the budget I will call a meeting this Thursday," Kosit said.