Government urged to show competence to stimulate economy

BANGKOK, Aug 18 (TNA) – The government should show its ability to stimulate the country’s economy to the utmost now that it has sufficient funds to support the performance, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI).

FTI chairman Santi Vilassakdanond said the government had managed to get enough funds from issuing its executive act and order seeking a substantial loan of Bt800 billion.

The amount, coupled with the 2010 budget, is sufficient for the government to jump start the economy.

Regarding the Thai Khem Kaeng (Stronger Thai) project, Mr Santi said the government must attempt to the best of its ability to implement it as planned.

The project, if successfully implemented, would help create millions of new jobs, which he said could make the Thai economy recover “noticeably”.

Mr Santi said various industrial-sector indices as well as the consumer confidence index had begun to rise.

However, it is the government’s duty to stimulate the economy on a continual basis.

On mounting concerns over the stronger baht, the FTI chief said the Thai currency had strengthened partly because the capital from the United States and Europe had flowed into the Southeast Asian region. (TNA)