The government is considering ways to boost state revenue as Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is confident the economy will improve in the fourth quarter.
Mr Srettha on Wednesday held a meeting with Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira, Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat and staff from various revenue collection agencies -- the Excise Department, the Customs Department and the Revenue Department -- to discuss ways to collect more revenue.
Speaking before the meeting, Mr Srettha said it is now June and the government needs to review its plans to cut spending and boost revenue to ensure budget spending is well managed. "Revenue [collection] is an important matter," the prime minister said, adding the Finance Ministry is also considering additional measures to stimulate the economy.
He said ministers in charge of the economy and various agencies are working together to turn the economy around amid sluggish GDP growth.
Mr Srettha also expressed confidence the economy would look up in the fourth quarter, though the government is now focusing on how to improve economic growth in the third quarter.
"The budget has now been disbursed and we will discuss ways to ensure it is spent as quickly as possible," he said.
The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) reported economic growth of 1.5% year-on-year for the first three months, which came as a shock to some observers. The NESDC now expects GDP growth of between 2% and 3% for the year, slightly lower than its previous forecast of 2.2% to 3.2%. Last year's growth was 1.9%.
Pornchai Thiraveja, spokesman for the Ministry of Finance, earlier said the government collected 1.38 trillion baht in revenue from October last year to April, falling below its target by 2.7%, or 39.1 billion baht.
The Excise Department's revenue was 304.5 billion baht, about 47 billion baht or 13.4% below the set target.
However, compared with the same period last year, the revenue collected was 27.5 billion baht higher.
Mr Julapun said it fell below the target because the government implemented a raft of measures to mitigate the high cost of living.
A cut on fuel tax took the heaviest toll on the Excise Department, which lost about 20 billion baht per month in income, he said.
Speaking after Wednesday's meeting, finance permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit said the Finance Ministry already has measures in place to deal with the below-target revenue collected.
He also said the Finance Ministry plans to collect an additional revenue of 10 billion baht, though he declined to give details regarding the sources of that revenue.