The Finance Ministry is about to launch a 150-billion-baht investment budget for fast-track projects aimed at pump-priming the country's slow economy and creating jobs upcountry during the coming dry season.
Of the amount, 110 billion will be splashed on water management projects and the remaining 40 billion for road maintenance and construction across the country, said Finance Minister Sommai Phasee.
The Public Debt Management Office is working out the details of the borrowing, probably from the financial market, he said.
The government hopes winners of the bid will use workers who live in communities where there are road construction sites or maintenance projects and this will help create jobs for farmers, he said.
Helping rice-farming families during the imminent dry season is also among the government's priorities, as farmers cannot cultivate the second crop since water reserves in dams are lower than in most years because the rainy season has been less intense than usual. Sagging farm prices have also dealt a serious blow to farmers' incomes.
Mr Sommai said such public works could be kick-started rapidly as they are small projects which do not take a long time to study and design. Moreover, the projects could spread out of rural areas across the country.
Of the total 40 billion baht budget set aside for road construction and maintenance, 15 billion will be spent by the Rural Roads Department and 25 billion by the Highways Department. Both departments are required to propose details of the projects to the Finance Ministry for consideration within two weeks before they are forwarded to the cabinet for approval.
Commerce Minister Gen Chatchai Sarikulya, in his capacity as chairman of the Water Management and Policy Committee, recently approved a two-year water management strategy worth 240 billion baht, running through 2016. Under the plan, 110 billion baht will be spent in this fiscal year and the rest in the next fiscal.
The pump-priming is deemed to be done at the right time as the projects would kick off by March, as the dry season approaches, Mr Sommai said.
In another development, the Finance Ministry is preparing another budget to directly inject money into villages outside farming areas, but the format has not yet been finalised, said Mr Sommai, adding that it will not be similar to the village funds of the Thaksin Shinawatra administration.
The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry and the Interior Ministry will be responsible for the new project, while the Finance Ministry will be in charge of arranging sources of funding.