State enterprises managed to dole out 310 billion baht worth of investment budget for the nine months through September, up 45% from a year earlier, says the chief of the State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo).
The sharp increase in investment budget disbursement could be attributed to accelerating investment in big-ticket infrastructure projects, including the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand's South Bangkok Power Plant Replacement phase 1, Transmission System Expansion Project No.12, the Orange Line electric train linking Thailand Cultural Centre to Min Buri and the Green Line electric train connecting Mor Chit-Saphan Mai to Khu Khot.
The Provincial Electricity Authority's transmission system development phase 1 and transmission system and substation development phase 9 also played a role, said Prapas Kong-Ied, director-general of Sepo.
State enterprises whose accounting period is based on the calendar year are estimated to see their disbursement rate reach 90% of their annual budget by next month, he said.
"These investments will help boost the country's economic growth this year," said Mr Prapas.
Given that state enterprise investment is an important tool for the government in driving the country's economic growth, disbursing the budget is the Sepo's priority in the final quarter of this year, he said.
The Sepo urged a committee governing state enterprise investment budget disbursement as well as state enterprises, particularly those with large investment projects, to expedite their disbursement for the rest of this year to achieve the government's target of 95% disbursement, said Mr Prapas.
On a fiscal-year basis, 45 state enterprises drew down 329 billion baht in investment budget from October to September, some 87% of the disbursement plan, said Chanvit Nakburee, deputy director of the Fiscal Policy Office.
Some 34 state enterprises whose accounting period is based on the fiscal year doled out 102 billion baht from October 2017 to September 2018, accounting for 70% of the target, while 11 using the financial year disbursed 227 billion baht for the nine months, or 98% of the target.