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Published on October 11, 2007

The ministry has nearly completed a draft of a monetary and fiscal master plan to provide social welfare to low-income groups and promote sustainable development.

"We've nearly finished the master plan, but whether it is approved by the government will be a political decision," Thaveesak Manakul, a senior official in the Fiscal Policy Office, said yesterday after a seminar.

The master plan, to be implemented from next year until 2013, is designed to correct such social ills as the widening income gap, unsustainable economic development, pollution, inadequate social welfare and housing for the poor.

It sounds like an ambitious agenda for national social development. But the Finance Ministry must take the lead role, because other finance-related agencies will have to be deeply involved. They include the Government Housing Bank, the Government Savings Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. These government-owned banks will be required to provide cheaper loans for low-income home-buyers and farmers.

The Finance Ministry's master plan does not merely aim at boosting growth. Tax collectors like the Revenue Department and the Excise Department would introduce new taxes, such as an inheritance tax and a property tax to address the huge income gap between rich and

poor.

They would also be asked to give tax incentives to encourage private firms to run social-welfare programmes or commit to social responsibility, while the Fiscal Policy Office would create an additional national savings pool to provide social welfare to the elderly.

Local governments would also be asked to collect some specific taxes, in order to limit consumption that affects the environment negatively.

"Climate change should be taken into account when the Finance Ministry drafts its fiscal policy," suggested Machima Kunjara na Ayudhya, an adviser to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

The ministry should provide tax incentives to encourage private firms to lower their levels of discharge pollution, he said. Tax incentives should also offered, to encourage them to pay serious attention to global warming.

Perhaps Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn will find it easier to pass this master plan than

pushing for the passage of other bills sponsored by the Bank of Thailand, especially the draft amendment of the Currency Act, which is proving to be too hot to handle.

wichitjai@yahoo.com