- Title: THAILAND: TOUGH MEASURES APPROVED TO BOOST ECONOMY
- Date: 4th August 1997
- Summary: BANGKOK, THAILAND (AUGUST 4+5, 1997) (RTV) (AUGUST 4) 1. AERIAL SHOT OF BANGKOK 0.04 2. GV FINANCIAL DISTRICT 0.07 3. SCU MONEY/MONEY CHANGERS/MACHINE COUNTING MONEY/PEOPLE OUTSIDE CHANGING MONEY (5 SHOTS) 0.35 (AUGUST 5) 4. LV EXTERIOR GOVERNMENT HOUSE 0.43 5. SCU THAI PRIME MINISTER CHAVALIT YONG-CHAI-YUDH, COMES OUT OF MEETING 0.49 6. SLV THAI FINANCE MINISTER THANONG BIDAYA LEAVES AFTER THE MEETING 0.57 7. SLV THANONG ENTERS NEWS CONFERENCE ROOM 1.09 8. CU PHOTOGRAPHER 1.12 9. SCU THANONG SAYS: THE FIRST AND TOP PRIORITY IS TO RESTORE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND THE CONFIDENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. THE THAIS MUST SHOW SOME PATIENCE. THAT'S THE WAY TO RECOVERY. WE REALISE THE SITUATION THAT WE LACK THE CONFIDENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. WE WILL TRY OUR BEST TO RESTORE THAT CONFDENCE. THE THAI PEOPLE KNOW THEY MUST BE UNITED TO SOLVE THIS PROBLEM TOGETHER. (ENGLISH) 2.13 10. LAS EXTERIOR BANGKOK STOCK MARKET 2.22 11. SLV INTERIOR MARKET WITH TRADERS 2.27 12. SCU INDEX BOARD 2.33 13. SCU TRADERS 2.39 14. LV WIDE OF TRADING ROOM 2.47 Initials S3 P3 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 19th August 1997 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BANGKOK, THAILAND
- City:
- Country: Thailand
- Reuters ID: LVA123V86T9G710KHFAF50UY3OOM
- Story Text: - INTRO: The Thai government has approved a series of tough measures aimed at boosting the economy, which needs an injection of 12-15 billion U.S. dollars in loans from foreign countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Finance minister Thanong Bidaya said in Bangkok on Tuesday (August 5) that the measures included the suspension of more than half of the country's 91 finance firms.
The government also set targets of maintaining 25-billion USD in foreign reserves, cutting the current account deficit, controlling inflation and hiking the value added tax, Thanong said.
Thanong added that the government had set a target of keeping annual inflation at no more than 8.0-9.0 percent, and hoped to keep gross domestic product (GDP) growth around three to four percent per year for the next two years.
In addition, the government planned to cut the current account deficit to five percent of GDP this year and three percent next year, compared to eight percent in 1996. The value added tax will be raised to 10 percent from seven percent for the next fiscal year beginning in October.
The Thai economy is growing at its slowest pace in a decade amid slowing exports and a liquidity crunch in the financial sector, which is already over-exposed to the property market.
Thailand has nearly 90-billion USD of foreign currency debt, with more than a third of that owed to Japanese banks.
The economic crisis, which threatened to bankrupt Thailand's financial sector, forced the government and the business community to swallow national pride and seek IMF help.
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