BANGKOK (NNT) – The Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) has addressed concerns and criticism of the amount of public debt the country currently has after massive loan taking by the government, while confirming that national public debt is still within the limits of fiscal discipline.
The PDMO Deputy Director General Jindarat Viriyataveekul addressed a facebook post which reportedly cited the World Bank’s economic report on Thailand, which allegedly says the Thai economy will face a crisis due to a massive 1.9 trillion baht in loans taken out by the government, which is considered to be 13 percent of national GDP.
Mrs Jindarat elaborated that the three emergency loan seeking decrees during the COVID-19 crisis, only authorized the Ministry of Finance to take a 1 trillion baht loan as direct government debt, while the 500 billion baht financial aid act to help businesses, and the 400 billion baht financial aid to maintain the stability of the national financial system and economic stability, are financial aid campaigns that do not involve loan taking, thus do not add to the public debt.
She said today that from this figure, the facebook post that cited a 1.9 trillion baht increase in public debt is not accurate, while reassuring the population that the much lower actual figure is unlikely to cause an economic crisis.
The PDMO deputy chief revealed that the Thai government only has a low level of debt at 44.37 percent, with the debt ratio at an average level when compared to other ASEAN countries and other developing countries, with most of the debt being used to fund the national budget, and to aid investments, which will in turn cause the national GDP to grow.
She added further that Thailand currently has a BBB+ rating by the Big Three S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch rating companies, which have maintained a stable outlook on the country, thanks to the robust public finance sector and good fiscal discipline.
