Bangkok Post
Ekniti: Act swiftly to avoid crisis
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Thailand must act quickly to stem its mounting current account deficit before it spirals into a current account crisis, says Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas.
Key facts
- Thailand must act quickly to stem its mounting current account deficit before it spirals into a current account crisis, says Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas.
- In a post on his official Facebook page, Mr Ekniti said that while the government's emergency borrowing decree would increase public debt, the loans are necessary to accelerate Thailand's transition from fossil fuels to clean and renewable
- The government aims to gradually raise total investment to around 30% of GDP to strengthen Thailand's long-term economic capacity.
- Prior to the 1997 economic crisis, total investment in Thailand accounted for as much as 40% of GDP, but the figure has declined to only 20%.
Summary
In a post on his official Facebook page, Mr Ekniti said that while the government's emergency borrowing decree would increase public debt, the loans are necessary to accelerate Thailand's transition from fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy.
"If we fail to act now, we risk facing one crisis on top of another," he wrote, citing the fact that, after Thailand was hit by soaring oil prices in April and May, the country's current account, which had traditionally remained in surplus, swung into a deficit of nearly 500 billion baht over the past two months.