May 29, 2024
BANGKOK – The government aims to further stimulate the economy through various measures to boost the country’s economic growth in the second half of the year, and will focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and vulnerable groups, deputy finance minister Paopoom Rojanasakul said on Monday.
He was speaking after the meeting on Monday of cabinet members from ministries whose work has a direct bearing on the economy in the session chaired by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. It was the first such meeting in this government.
The ministers of Finance, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Commerce, Energy, Industry, Transport and Culture attended the meeting, along with representatives from the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), the Budget Bureau, the Board of Investment of Thailand, the Fiscal Policy Office and the Bank of Thailand.
Paopoom said Srettha underscored the need to boost the economic expansion in the second half of the year after gross domestic product in the first quarter grew only 1.5%, the lowest rate among ASEAN members.
The PM said the low capacity utilisation rate of the industrial sector of only 57.2% needs to be addressed, as it affects employment and consumption. He urged government agencies to put in place measures to help financial institutes grant loans to SMEs to boost manufacturing and consequently other economic activities.