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Government has enough money to further cap fuel prices
Energy Minister Prommin Lertsuridej reiterated that the
government has sufficient money to further cap fuel prices although more
than 8.5 billion baht has been already spent on that purpose. He said fuel
prices in the world market have soared to the highest level in 14 years.
However, it has begun to edge down by around US$1.5 per barrel. Even so, the
prices were still considered very high and must be closely monitored, he
said.
Dr. Prommin said the ministry has a policy to cap diesel
oil prices since an upward adjustment would have an impact on the production
of consumer goods. He reaffirmed the government’s intention to further cap
fuel prices through the Oil Fund although global oil prices would continue
to rise. So far, he said, the Oil Fund had spent more than 8.5 billion baht
capping gasoline prices, which are around 3 and 2 baht lower than they
should be now.
Meanwhile, Prasert Bunsumpun, president of PTT Public
Company Limited (PTT) disclosed that the company has a policy to encourage
around 60,000 taxis to turn to consuming natural gas for vehicles (NGV) in
the next 4-5 years. He conceded that some taxis need to adapt their engines
to the fuel, which might require a state budget of around 600 million baht.
Prices of NGV would be set at around 6-7 baht per liter, he said.
“Owners of taxis with adapted engines must be charged
about five baht more whenever they fill in NGV at petrol stations, as part
of principal repayment to the state, which will help adapt the taxis’
engines, which costs about 50,000 baht each. But the total cost of around 12
baht whenever they fill with a liter of NGV is still about 5 baht cheaper
than the price of capped benzene currently,” he noted.
The new capped prices of benzene octane 95 and benzene
octane 91 have been Bt17.59 and Bt16.79 a liter respectively as of early
May; while the capped price of diesel has remained at Bt14.59 a liter.
Prasert said PTT would introduce NGV cards for fuel filling for which taxi
drivers and owners interested in joining the program could apply in June.
The company targeted that at least 10,000 taxis will participate in the
scheme this year. (TNA)
Rising fuel prices might cut GDP by almost 1%
Rising oil prices in the world market might reduce this
year’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth of Thailand by almost 1%, as
people are likely to consume fuel at high prices until the year-end,
according to a veteran in the oil industry.
Piyasvati Amaranand, former secretary-general of the
National Energy Policy Office, said the continued rise in global fuel prices
would unavoidably affect the country’s economic growth although the
government had resorted to capping local prices of fuel. The GDP would
definitely be affected as its growth could decline by almost 1% if the oil
prices continued to stay high throughout this year, he said.
“Even though global oil prices are likely to drop to a
certain extent, Thai people will consume the fuel at high prices until the
end of the year because they have to compensate the Oil Fund,” said
Piyasvati, who is also president of KASIKORN Mutual Fund Co. The government
has spent about eight billion baht through the Fund capping fuel prices at
the current level since January.
Meanwhile, global fuel prices continued to stay at the
highest level in 13 years upon concern over possible terrorist attacks in
Saudi Arabia and raids on oil depots in Iraq. (TNA)
Federal Reserve won’t raise interest rates for now, says economist
The United States’ Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise
its federal fund rate as long as oil prices in the global market continue to
stay high, according to a leading economist. Thanawat Palavichai, Director
of the University of Chamber of Commerce’s Economic and Business
Forecasting Center, said should the Fed decide to raise the interest rates
amidst higher oil prices, the global economy including that of the US would
definitely slow down. So, he believed, the Fed would not make any upward
adjustment of its interest rates for now because it did not want the
country’s economy, which had just begun to recover, to lose momentum.
“In my view, the Fed will wait until global fuel prices
ease, and will then raise interest rates, maybe, in August.”
For local interest rates, Thanawat said, he saw no sign
for an upward adjustment because commercial banks needed not yet mobilize
deposits as liquidity in the system remained excessive. However, he
projected deposit and lending rates would edge up by the end of this year.
He disclosed that the consumer confidence index in April continued to
decline for the fourth consecutive month as the confidence in the overall
economy dropped to 101.6 points from 103 in March. The confidence in
employment opportunities edged down to 96.1 from 96.9, and that in future
incomes to 114.3 from 116.8.
Thanawat attributed the continued decline in the
confidence index to the southern unrest, the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC)’s reduction of daily production by one million
barrel, persistent opposition to privatization of state enterprises, stock
market bearishness, and weakening of baht. He said the government needed to
cope with the situation urgently, and to step up efforts to stimulate the
economy at the grass-root level in a more concrete manner. (TNA)
Stronger trade relations with EU, Australia, and New Zealand
Thailand is joining other member countries of the
Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in planning to boost and
strengthen trade relations with the European Union (EU), Australia, and New
Zealand.
The issue was discussed at the ASEAN Economic
Ministers’ Meeting (AEMM), held in Singapore late last month, according to
a news report of Vietnam News Agency (VNA).
Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Cesar V. Purisima
proposed that ASEAN hold a summit this year in commemoration of the 30th
anniversary of ASEAN-Australia, and ASEAN-New Zealand relations to promote
closer economic ties. Purisima said that ASEAN had also achieved progress in
negotiations with important partners, including China and Japan.
At the last AEMM, Manila also urged that ASEAN members
abolish import tariffs on electronic and semi-conductor products by next
year. ASEAN now groups Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. (TNA)
Thai trawlers affected by US ban on caught shrimp imports
A US decision to ban imports of caught shrimp from trading
countries, including Thailand, will inevitably affect Thai trawlers. According
to a press release from the American Embassy to Thailand, which was
disseminated to TNA this morning, as of 15 May, 2004, all Thai farmed shrimp
exports to the U.S. must be accompanied by an Importer/Exporter’s
Declaration. The Declaration will help distinguish farmed shrimp from the
smaller quantity of caught shrimp, which are embargoed from export to the U.S.
starting from 15 May.
The U.S. decision, made on 30 April, permits shrimp exports
from countries that protect sea turtles, and bans shrimp exports from other
countries, including Thailand. The decision is expected to harm Thai shrimp
trawlers who export over US$40 million shrimp to the US market annually, out
of Thailand’s total shrimp exports of over US$950 million to Washington each
year. Exports of Thai caught shrimps to the US market, however, account for
only 5% of the country’s total shrimp exports to the US market annually.
When asked if the embargo on caught shrimp and
documentation requirement for farmed shrimp exports was related to the ongoing
anti-dumping case involving Thailand, an American Embassy officer replied,
“Absolutely not. These new measures are required under the US Public Law, as
part of the US sea turtle conservation program.”
The officer explained that the existing US law requires the
Department of State to certify that countries exporting shrimp to the US have
taken all appropriate measures to prevent accidental capture, or death of
endangered sea turtles, and, unfortunately, Thailand’s shrimp fishing
industry has not enthusiastically adopted devices and methods that protect sea
turtles when fishing for shrimp. The US law prohibits the import of shrimp
that were caught, or harvested in a manner that may adversely affect sea
turtle species.
The specific law is Section 609 of Public Law 101-162.
Under its provisions, the U.S. has no choice but to embargo the small
proportion of the Thai shrimp caught at sea, and require that farmed shrimp
from Thailand be certified in writing.
“If Thailand’s shrimp fishing fleet used turtle
excluder devices on their nets, or other measures to protect sea turtles, we
would not have had this problem,” he added. “When Thai shrimp fishermen
join in the worldwide effort to protect sea turtles, this embargo can be
reversed. Other than the requirement of new declarations, these measures will
have no effect on the more than US$900 million worth of Thai farmed shrimp
exported to the U.S. each year,” the American Embassy officer confirmed.
(TNA)
Unemployment rate dropped in 2003
The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 2.2 percent last
year, bringing down the number of overall unemployed to less than one million,
recent official figures showed. Labor Minister Uraiwan Thienthong disclosed
that the unemployment rate in 2003 dropped to 2.2 percent of the 64 million
population. This meant that the country had 750,000 jobless people, out of its
total workforce of 34.9 million, she noted. The figure indicated that
Thailand’s economic expansion had contributed to more job creation in the
industrial sector.
Besides, the government policies to develop local
communities like the “Village Fund” and the “One Tambon One Product”
(OTOP) schemes also helped boost the labor market, Uraiwan pointed out. Among
other positive factors that influenced the recruitment market last year were
commercial banks’ low interest rates, and easy credit policy.
She pointed out that the higher number of workers
registered as members of the social security system was another indicator
showing that the unemployment situation was improving. The number rose to 7.43
million in December 2003, up 7.67 percent from the same period of the previous
year as a result of more job creation in the private sector. (TNA)
Thailand to take part in next ASEM in Vietnam
Thailand will take part in the Fifth Asia-Europe Meeting
(ASEM), to be hosted by Vietnam later this year.
The Fifth ASEM is scheduled to be held in Hanoi on 8-10
October. The Vietnamese Ministry of Culture and Information on publicized the
official logo of the Fifth ASEM, which represents close ties and cooperation
between member countries of the two continents in fostering peace and
sustainable development of the two continents through intertwined vertical
lines.
The 16 blue strokes represent Europe, and the 10 yellow
strokes represent Asia. The word: ASEM 5, Ha Noi 2004 are red. The logo will
be printed on ASEM documents and souvenirs.
ASEM is a unique inter-regional forum, which consists of
six member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),
along with China, Japan, South Korea, and the fifteen members of the European
Union (EU). The six ASEAN members include Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
Established in 1996, it was born out of the need, felt as
much in Europe as in Asia, to improve the dialogue between the continents,
which had been neglected since the end of decolonization.
In general, the ASEM process is considered by the parties
concerned as a way of fortifying the relations between Asia and Europe in
order to balance the triangular world - the US, Asia and Europe - of the 21st
century. The main components of the process include political dialogue,
security, business, education, and culture.
Realizing the importance of the process, a number of
participating countries have created ASEM sections within their respective
ministries of foreign affairs in order to monitor the multifaceted ASEM
activities. This is increasingly propelled by many new opportunities for
communication offered by the rapidly developing information technology (IT).
Thailand hosted the First ASEM in Bangkok in 1996. (TNA)
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