|
|
| • EXCH RATES |
|
Baht/$ 33.49/52
Bid/Ask
|
GOLD |
14,600
- 50
|
|
ECONOMY
VICHAYA PITSUWAN
A preoccupation with politics and a lack of unity among the government's economic planners are stalling efforts to improve the country's economy, business leaders said yesterday.
''We have made many suggestions, but the government hasn't improved and there is no teamwork within the government so no practical policies have been accomplished,'' said Pramon Sutivong, the chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC).
Mr Pramon made the comment at a meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB), which groups the TCC, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and the Thai Bankers' Association (TBA).
He said committee members had their suggestions ready to be discussed with the government, but they had never been given an opportunity for a joint meeting.
While inflation is another concern for the JSCCIB, Mr Pramon acknowledged that its member groups had differing views on how the Bank of Thailand should control inflation. Some may want to see interest rates left alone, some believe it should be changed and some want the Thai baht to be weaker to help exporters.
Despite differing opinions, they all agreed to urge the central bank to implement some measures to help control inflation as soon as possible in order to stimulate sentiment overall.
''I know there is no right or wrong way to solve this inflation issue, but instead of staying put, fast decisions should be made as the economy needs to move forward instead of being gloomy like this,'' Mr Pramon said.
The JSCCIB also wants Finance Ministry to find channels that could provide soft loans to help more businesses gain access to financial sources, saying that the central bank could use an estimated 30 billion baht left over from previous loan schemes.
The enforcement of the new Banking Act 2008 has prevented the central bank from offering loans directly to the business sector, a role it used to play in the past.
Santi Vilassakdanont, the FTI chairman, said soft loans were needed for small and medium enterprises, who are facing cashflow difficulties.
He said the rise of non-performing loans and current economic hardships had pushed raw materials suppliers to opt for cash trading instead of providing credit. The loans would help ease the tensions, Mr Santi said.
''Oil prices are expected to continue to rise and will affect operators' production cost even more, with inflation, less consumer spending, a possible rise in interest rates and political tension, we are still worried that the economy will be down in the second half of the year,'' Mr Santi said.
He added that the private sector was not looking for the government to provide further subsidies for fuel prices.
However, he said, the government should move forward as quickly as possible on alternative fuel usage and construction of different transport modes.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Next
