The National Legislative Assembly on Thursday passed a law on public debt which excludes state enterprises' debts that the Finance Ministry does not guarantee and the debts of the Bank of Thailand.
The assembly passed the second and third readings of the amendment law within 30 minutes. No assemblymen aired their views on it. The law was passed in its third reading with 179 votes.
Under the new law, public debt refers to the debts of the Finance Ministry, governmental organisations and state enterprises and the debts that the ministry guarantees.
Public debt does not include the debts of the Bank of Thailand and the debts of the state enterprises that conduct the businesses of lending, managing assets and guaranteeing loans which the Finance Ministry does not guarantee.
The new law also requires the formation of a 12-member committee to supervise public debt policies and management. The finance minister will head the panel.
Besides, the law allows the Domestic Bond Market Development Fund to be used to invest in bonds issued or guaranteed by the Finance Ministry, bonds issued by the Bank of Thailand, bonds receiving the best ratings from reliable rating institutions, and deposits with state-owned financial institutions or commercial banks.
At the end of May, public debt totalled 6.35 trillion baht, representing 42.9% of the gross domestic product.
Of the total public debt, 95% was local debt and 4.99% was foreign-denominated debt. In terms of maturity, 85.7% was long-term debt and the rest short-term.
