Future Fund delay drags on

Future Fund delay drags on

The planned 100-billion-baht Thailand Future Fund (TFF) is embroiled in a court dispute over costs, threatening to further delay its stock market listing.

The labour union of the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) claims it would be cheaper to use borrowings by the state enterprise to pay for road projects due to be financed via the Future Fund, according to Ekniti Nitithanprapas, director-general of the State Enterprise Policy Office.

"We can’t say when the fund will be launched as it depends on the court’s decision,” Mr Ekniti said in an interview this week, adding that he still hoped it would start in time to finance two expressway projects by September.

The TFF is expected to raise 44 billion baht from the general public to help finance infrastructure projects.

The long-promised Future Fund was due to hold its initial public offering in March last year under an earlier timeline. It is one element of the military government’s ambitious infrastructure agenda to bolster slowing economic expansion. The pace of project implementation is the key challenge.

The Supreme Administrative Court is deciding whether to accept the case, Mr Ekniti said. The government’s argument is that the fund is a key policy initiative needed to tap private-sector financing, and can’t be compared directly with the expressway authority, whose debts are guaranteed by the government, he added.

The cabinet approved the fund last year, and said it would initially finance two expressways linking the capital to areas in the west and east, worth a combined 45 billion baht. Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong has said the fund would offer a yearly return of 7-8%.

There might be a significantly longer wait to get road projects under way if the country relies only on the expressway authority to seure the financing, according to Mr Ekniti.

The cabinet in May approved a proposal to use two expressways as underlying assets for the TFF. Under the proposal, 45% of future revenue from the Chalong Rat Expressway (Ram Intra-At Narong) and Burapha Withi Expressway (Bang Na-Chon Buri), owned by Exat, would be backed by TFF units.

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