The State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) wants all state enterprises, including seven now undertaking business rehabilitation plans, to attain profitability within five years.
The goals set are part of a five-year plan through 2021, Sepo director-general Ekniti Nitithanprapas said, adding that the plan also requires the earnings of each state enterprise to be on a par with other operators in their respective industries.
The seven state enterprises undertaking business rehabilitation plans are Thai Airways International Plc (THAI), the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA), TOT Plc, CAT Telecom, the Islamic Bank of Thailand (IBank) and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank).
Among the seven state enterprises, BMTA has suffered the biggest losses, retaining a net loss of 102 billion baht as of the end of the first quarter last year, followed by IBank at 24.2 billion as of 2015 and SME Bank at 7.41 billion as of March 2016.
Sepo is expecting that SME Bank will be the first to be removed from the list of loss-making state enterprises, thanks to an improving operating performance and decrease in non-performing loans.
According to the requirements of the superboard, the bank can be removed from the list of ailing state enterprises if it manages to lower its NPLs to below 18 billion baht and less than 5% of its new loans turn sour.
SME Bank recently said that no new loans had turned sour from the beginning of this year to early June and its NPLs amounted to 17.4 billion baht, representing 18% of its total outstanding loans of 97 billion baht.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said total investment among state enterprises over the past seven months to April surged by 17% over the same period the year before, playing a role in boosting the Thai economy to 3.3% for the January-to-March quarter.
At present, 56 state enterprises have combined assets of 14 trillion baht, earn total income of 5 trillion baht, spend 4.5 trillion in expenditure and contribute 100 billion to the government's coffers. Investment from state enterprises account for half of public investments.
Mr Somkid said all state enterprise operations must be in line with the 20-year national strategic plan, under which these establishments would play a vital role in creating domestic economy.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said maximising the profit of state enterprises was not the Finance Ministry's policy, but ensuring optimal efficiency is.
Each state enterprise must also list regulations to create corporate governance to prevent politicians from meddling in its operations, he said.