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Published on October 3, 2007

Sommai Phasee, deputy finance minister, said after the Cabinet meeting which approved the construction of the purple-line electric train, that the Chinese government recently showed its interest to support the project by offering the low interest rate of 3 per cent in 15 years if Chinese company won the bidding to take part in the construction work.

Thai finance ministry earlier expected to obtain loans from Jbic. However, Jbic recently showed its hesitance to support the project.

The purple line electric train is worth Bt55 billion. Sommai said that the Thai government decided to go ahead with the plan without waiting for the loans from Jbic. The civil work of the project is set to go ahead soon.

However, he noted that if the Japanese companies won the bidding to take part in the project, Jbic may decide to extend loan to support the project. Jbic's interest rate is estimated to be lower than the domestic rates by 1.2 to 1.5 per cent.