Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Supattanapong Panmeechaow yesterday emphasised the need for an executive decree that would enable the Finance Ministry to guarantee a loan of 150 billion baht for the Oil Fuel Fund, as well as additional measures to help vulnerable groups.
The draft executive decree was passed by the cabinet, which agreed to allow the Finance Ministry to guarantee a debt to be repaid by the Oil Fuel Fund, as well as its loan of 150 billion baht.
Mr Supattanapong said such a decree is needed before the onset of winter as energy rates keep rising.
"In order to help the Oil Fuel Fund maintain its function, the ministry must find ways to support its liquidity and increase the reliability of the fund," he said.
"We still have to consider whether the loan ceiling will reach 150 billion baht. As this was a private meeting, we cannot disclose details."
The loan ceiling will be decided by the Finance Ministry in a way that does not exponentially raise public debts, he noted. A decision on borrowing will be made by the Office of the Council of State.
Some of the loan will be paid from the fund's debts which now exceed 100 billion baht. However this is not expected to interfere with 35-baht cap on the diesel price.
Mr Supattanapong said the idea of a windfall tax was ditched after the ministry consulted with oil refinery owners when the cost of refining fell to around 2 baht a litre.
The government has also instructed the Energy Regulatory Commission to take care of vulnerable groups affected by the rising fuel tariff (Ft) rate, he added. The Ft rate will be raised by next month.