quite concerned about the tourism sector

BANGKOK, Aug 7 (TNA) – Thailand’s Minister of Finance Korn Chatikavanij on Thursday allowed that his government is quite concerned about the tourism sector as it has been persistently plagued by a series of challenges, including ongoing political divisiveness, the spread of A(H1N1) influenza, and the reduced purchasing power of foreign tourists.

Speaking after joining the government’s 6-month performance report presentation at Parliament on Thursday, he said many economic indicators — including consumption, exports, production capacity, and value-added tax collection — had begun to signal a recovery.

However, the government remained worried about the heavily-affected tourism sector and was finding measures to help the sector.

Because of this, it planned to accelerate lending by SME Development Bank to tourism operators and adopt tax measures to help ease their burdens to ensure a recovery of the sector.

Mr Korn said the export sector should begin to recover given the improved economic conditions of Thailand’s trading partners.

Purchase orders in the food processing industry had turned around and begun to increase considerably, showing clear recovery.

Regarding the property sector, he said, the government’s extension of measures to ease taxes on home purchases had encouraged people to decide to buy houses sooner.

Mr Korn also revealed that the government is now measuring the country’s economic indicators both on a quarter-to-quarter basis, and month to month. It is the approach adopted by China, South Korea, and Singapore.

He said the approach is suitable for use when the economic is in crisis because it could reflect the overall picture of the economy more efficiently than the customary measurement of economic indicators on an annual basis. (TNA)