The economic damage caused by severe floods in several parts of the country since late August is estimated to have totalled Bt17 billion so far, according to the Bank of Thailand.

Tarisa Watanagase, the central bank's new governor, yesterday said the damage was manageable because gross domestic pro-duct is about Bt7 trillion.

As a percentage of GDP, the economic toll is therefore relatively small, she said.

According to the Interior Ministry, 46 provinces have been hit by severe flooding, which started on August 27.

The first bout of flooding took place from August 27 to 31, followed by the September 9-12 floods, the September 18-23 floods, the September 24-26 floods, and the October 1-3 floods, with heavy rain in the North, Northeast and the Central region.

More than 800,000 households and 3.16 million people have been affected by the natural disaster. The ministry reported that 104 people had been killed by the prolonged flooding, with at least 51 houses completely destroyed and 8,779 partially damaged.

In addition, nearly 4,000 roads, 300 bridges, 2.41 million rai of farmland, nearly 30,000 shrimp and fish farms, and nearly 1,000 temples and schools were damaged by the floods.

Meanwhile, Tarisa said the government anticipated a budget deficit of Bt100 billion for fiscal year 2007 due largely to state investment in mega- projects.

These include water management schemes to deal with floods or drought, as well as construction of additional mass-transit rail lines in Bangkok to ease traffic congestion and increase transport efficiency.

Tarisa said the inflationary effects of a deficit budget, the first in several years, were not likely to be significant because the deficit as a percentage of the entire 2007 budget would be relatively small. She said high oil prices were more worrisome than the planned deficit as far as inflation was concerned.