A 52% increase in the investment budget of state enterprises to 796 billion baht next year will play a key role in boosting economic growth, says the head of the State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo).
The aggregate investment budget of all state enterprises and their subsidiaries is set at 796 billion for 2018, up dramatically from 522 billion this year, said Sepo director-general Ekniti Nitithanprapas.
State enterprises were a driver of economic growth last year, as seen by the fact that the country's economy grew by 3.2% as their investment grew by 10%. Annual GDP surged 3.8% year-on-year during the first nine months of 2017 as state enterprise investment jumped 9.2%.
The government aims to disburse 95% of the state enterprises' budget next year.
The investment budget of 45 state enterprises excluding subsidiaries amounted to 344 billion baht in total for 2017, with 80% drawn down as of October.
Mr Ekniti forecasts that 288 billion baht, representing 84% of the 344-billion-baht investment budget, will be doled out this year.
Even though the state enterprises' budget disbursement is expected to fall short of the 95% target, it is well above the average 70% of the past, he said.
State enterprises' disbursement of investment budget could be even higher, as the Transport Ministry will soon seek cabinet approval for 13 contracts related to double-track rail worth 90 billion baht.
The superboard panel, chaired by former Bank of Thailand governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul, earlier scrapped the original terms of reference (ToR) for the construction of the Hua Hin-Prachuap Khiri Khan rail route, which was criticised for barring small- and medium-sized companies from submitting bids.
The old ToR favoured large contracts, covering all construction work, for each of the five projects to ensure rapid construction, but the superboard panel and the SRT board agreed to make a change by dividing the original five contracts into 13.
Double-track rail construction is a strategic project that could beef up competitiveness and save on logistics costs, Mr Ekniti said, adding that double-track will let trains run at a faster speed than under the current single-track system averaging 40kph.
If the double-track rail investment is kick-started next year, budget disbursement of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) will be higher, he said.
The SRT drew down a mere 23 billion baht, accounting for 39% of its investment budget of 59 billion, during the last fiscal year.
In other news, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusrpitsak said the first 50 billion baht in leftover budget from local administration organisations will be taken out to stimulate local economies after hampering regulations are amended in the next four months.
The Finance Ministry and the Interior Ministry have mutually agreed to amend rules and regulations blocking the government from using the leftover budget of local administration organisations for economic stimulus, Mr Somkid said, adding that the amendment process is expected to take four months.
Leaving the unused budget of local administration organisations to sit idle is considered a waste of resources, he said.
At present, local administration organisations' leftover budget totals 170 billion baht.
The leftover budget is likely to be used to finance both existing and new tourism projects or community developments initiated by local administration organisations, Mr Somkid said.
Fiscal pump-priming is high on the government's agenda for next year to broaden the country's economic recovery.
