Government to Increase Household Income

(04/10/2011)

The Government will strengthen the Thai economy as a whole by increasing household income for the people. Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, in her weekly radio program, said that while stimulating the domestic economy to ease economic difficulties faced by the people, the Government would maintain fiscal discipline at the same time. She explained that, since the focus of the world economy is shifting from the United States to Asia, especially China, Thailand needs to prepare to cope with the changing situation, which, in fact, provides the country with greater opportunities. She believed that the European debt crisis would ease soon and that in order to avoid risks, Thailand should diversify its exports to China and other markets, instead of depending heavily on such traditional markets as the United States and Europe. The Prime Minister said that the Government would start a rice-pledging scheme on October 7 to provide income security for farmers. As for the 300-baht daily minimum wage, she said, the tripartite committee, comprising employers, employees, and government representatives, are working on the minimum wage increase. The Government had decided to increase village revolving funds for more than 80,000 villages nationwide. “SML” – “small, medium, and large” -villages will also receive more funds to be used to solve community problems in response to local needs. Prime Minister Yingluck defended the Government’s projects for first-time home buyers and first-car buyers, saying that the two projects would help stimulate the Thai economy on a full-cycle basis. For instance, they would generate employment for the people, and the Government would benefit from tax collection in the form of value-added tax, corporate tax, and property transfer tax. The Prime Minister stressed that the Government would continue to promote the use of alternative energy. The cut of monthly contributions to the Oil Fund is regarded as only a short-term measure to reduce oil prices in order to ease financial burdens for the people. In another development, the National Energy Policy Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, on September 30 agreed to extend the freeze on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for household use at 18.13 baht a kilogram from September this year to the end of next year. The LPG price for the transport sector will remain pegged until 15 January 2012, pending the introduction of the fuel-purchase credit cards. Starting from 16 January 2012, the price will increase by 0.41 baht per liter each month. As for the contribution from the sales of LPG in the petrochemical industry to the Oil Fund, it will be one baht per kilogram, beginning from 1 January 2012. The period for freezing the price of natural gas for vehicles (NGV) at 8.50 baht a kilogram will be extended from 1 October 2011 to 15 January 2012. The price will be raised by 0.50 baht a kilogram per month, from 16 January to December 2012. The contribution from the sales of gasoline and gasohol to the Oil Fund will increase by one baht a liter per month, starting from 16 January next year, while the contribution from the sales of high-speed diesel will increase by 0.60 baht a liter, starting from 16 January onwards.