If the Middle East war ends, Thai and other world economies will start to recover but energy prices may not return to pre-war levels, Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said on Monday.
He was responding to the latest reports the United States and Iran have reached agreement on ending the war.
Mr Ekniti, also a deputy prime minister, said an end to the war would be a very positive sign for Thailand and other global economies as “the world will enter rehabilitation mode".
This would reduce the risk of a global economic crisis resulting from energy price fluctuations. Energy prices might not fall to their pre-war levels, but that situation could be alleviated, Mr Ekniti said.
For now, the government would proceed with its plan to use a 200-billion-baht loan to adjust power consumption so that people would be less dependent on oil and make more use of renewable energy such as solar power, he said.
Oil prices would remain high for at least the next few years because the war had damaged major oil production and storage facilities, Mr Ekniti said.
High fuel prices caused inflation, which raised the cost of living for consumers and businesses. Therefore, the government was implementing its Thais Help Thais Plus co-payment scheme to support both the grassroots level and vendors, he said.
