
Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said the expansionary budget would range between Bt100 billion and Bt180 billion. He also noted that the government could witness a revenue shortfall of about Bt140 billion due partly to lower revenue remittance from state enterprises; therefore, the government needs to be thorough on the proposed restructuring of the tax structure.
"The extra spending will depend on necessity. I can't tell the exact amount but it would definitely exceed Bt100 billion," he said. Parts of the amount would be used to finance the extension of some of six energy-related measures, which would be expired at the end of January.
While the low-income earners could further be waived from electricity and water charges, the government may not extend the cut in oil excise taxes.
On the first day in office on Tuesday, Korn said the fiscal policies would be consistent with monetary policies. He did not set the expected growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP), but it would be satisfactory if measures to help the public could help boost the GDP.