Abhisit opposes bill on loans for infrastructure

Abhisit warns against B2 trillion loan bill

Published: 12 Mar 2013 at 15.31
Online news: News

The government should rethink its plan for legislation allowing it to acquire 2.2 trillion baht in loans for infrastructure projects, and instead finance the work through its annual expenditure budget, opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Tuesday.

The Democrat Party leader said the annual budget requires projects to be implemented according to the order of priority set, with strict enforcement of the law against corruption for effective management.

"If these projects are implemented through loans, there will be problems with transparency and examination," said Mr Abhisit.

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koolbreez
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Discussion 45 : 09 Apr 2013 at 18.4145
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Who gets all the interest from these loans? That is one question that hasn't been asked, and involves a huge sum of money for 40-50 years that the public will be paying for, no matter what happens. Who exactly is going to get this interest money? That is a question that needs to be asked, and those involved identified.
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onlyasking
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Discussion 44 : 15 Mar 2013 at 12.4644
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I am a bit late on this one. There are a difference between spending state funds on social welfare like the EU/US and the proposed spending B 2,2 trillion on infrastructure. Social welfare spending have no longterm benefits while infrastructure in general increases a countries GDP over time. The B2,2 trillion will be spend over 7 years which is B 300bn per year = 1 months tax collections. If Abhasits proposal is followed existing spending must be decreased or taxes increased, both of which could have a negative impact on the Thai economy.
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spiceman
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Discussion 43 : 13 Mar 2013 at 08.5243
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Khun Fact-Only #38, Japan has been caught in a state of economic stagnation for well over a decade now, in which Japanese economists described it as "lost decade." Right now, it seems that all economic indicators are pointing toward another "lost decade" for Japan. And you might notice lately that the much smaller S Korea is overtaking it at a breathtaking speed in economic output. In short, Japan is running out of gas and in decline. Greece, however, is in full-blown economic crisis, followed closely by Spain, Portugal, and Italy, caused by the same kind of loose fiscal policy Thailand is currently adopting.
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brilliant
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Discussion 42 : 13 Mar 2013 at 08.3342
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BTW, ricefield, if you pay attention to my posts in other forums beside just political forums, I've revealed lots of personal information about myself.
When your lies become personal attacks that we both know are lies, you prove yourself to be quite sad.
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brilliant
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Discussion 41 : 13 Mar 2013 at 08.2141
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ricefield - "me have refused my request for their information and want to stay anonymous. Isn't that right Bob, Brilliant, and a few others."

That, ricefield is an outright lie. And you know it and say it anyway. Sad.
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whatajoke
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Discussion 40 : 13 Mar 2013 at 07.2940
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Furthermore, please note: Abhisit's govt borrowed a lot of money as a monetary Keynesian approach to the biggest recession the world had seen 80 years, and he deserves credit for minimizing the impact on Thailand (all the while having street politics brickbats thrown at him). Luckily Thailand could afford to, it was the correct thing to do. Yingluck is taking advantage of a bull run on the SET to loan money, the bubble could burst. Say what you want about Abhisit but I'd rather have an Oxford educated economist running my country prudently than a family-run-business-exec taking orders via Skype, using creative accounting to free up credit.
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whatajoke
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Discussion 39 : 13 Mar 2013 at 07.2339
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Lots of half-baked arguments from both sides this morning. What Abhisit is implying from this article is that the loan circumvents the usual budget and is therefore not subject to rigorous transparency inspection. This country has a big problem with corruption and this present administration seems to prefer unaccountable spending. In recent times under-the-table bribes have gone up to an unprecedented 30% (according to a business survey). Thailand can afford to borrow for development since it's still well below the healthy 60% debt to GDP ratio, but it's now rapidly squandering that cushion.
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facts_only
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Discussion 38 : 13 Mar 2013 at 03.4938
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"In Japan, the debt to GDP ratio was about 200%, and there was no financial crisis, he said." - above
I checked. Japan was 233.1% in 2012 - approximately half of all annual Japanese spending is financed through increasing public debt. Greece was 145%.

The explanation I found is that the Japanese are savers, so there is extra-ordinary public funding available to finance this ratio.
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blobber
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Discussion 37 : 13 Mar 2013 at 03.2337
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Discussion 36. I agree. What is more important is how old they are, how old their wife is and how much of their life savings have they put in her name. That would explain a lot.
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bikeme
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Discussion 36 : 13 Mar 2013 at 02.5936
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D33/D34 - Does it really matter where someone was born? A forum like this is a venue for expressing an opinion. And an expat who has lived in Thailand for many years could well be as knowledgeable as or even more knowledgeable than someone who grew up here. But labeling them as an expat will simply open a new avenue of attack by those bent on imposing their opinions (and this goes both ways).
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Abhisit opposes bill on loans for infrastructure | Bangkok Post: business

Abhisit warns against B2 trillion loan bill

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