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Thailand: Arkhom vows to create jobs
The government will introduce measures aimed at generating jobs and boosting income early next year, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on Monday.
He said the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak has cost people their income, but added that the situation is improving following the reopening of the country. This has spurred more travel, which could bring back jobs, especially in the tourism sector.
The export sector is expected to expand 17% this year, which will also add income to the business sector, Mr Arkhom added.
The government will also focus on wooing high-income travellers into Thailand next year, Mr Arkhom said on Monday at a seminar hosted by Thai News Agency.
The ministry projects Thai economic growth of 4% next year, with the government hopeful that everyone will evenly share the benefits of this expansion.
Mr Arkhom said that the Thai economy is rebounding from the pandemic faster than it did following the Tom Yum Kung economic crisis in 1997, from which the country took two years to recover. The pandemic caused the Thai economy to contract in 2020, but this year the economy is expected to expand by 1.2%, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council’s forecast.
He said that declining revenue from foreign tourist arrivals, which usually accounted for 12% of gross domestic product, has been offset by revenue from exports and domestic consumption.
Next year around 1 trillion baht will be pumped into the economic system by the state, of which 600 billion is the state investment budget of the 2022 fiscal year and 300 billion baht is state enterprises’ investment budgets.
The government still has 250 billion baht left from the 500 billion baht it borrowed under the second emergency loan decree to mitigate the pandemic’s impact on the economy.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2223739/arkhom-vows-to-create-jobs