Ministry to push for change in the jv act

"Some rules should be amended to increase private-sector participation in government investment projects," Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said. He declined to divulge details.

The business sector earlier called for the government to raise the Bt1-billion minimum value of projects qualifying as public-private joint ventures to Bt2 billion so as to speed up the approval of smaller projects.

The government was urged to spearhead investment to boost confidence at a time when private investment has slumped in the face of plunging demand around the world.

Korn, in an exclusive interview with Nation Multimedia Group, added that due to limited budget and concern over cash flow, the government was ready to terminate any state project if the responsible unit could not disburse the allocated budget by July, as a measure to maintain efficient cash management.

"These projects require recurrent budgeting. Disbursement could affect cash flow," he said.

In the interview, Korn highlighted the need to address short-term and long-term obstacles to economic growth, chiefly the proposed collection of property tax and organisational restructuring at some state enterprises. As taxpayers' money is involved, he insisted that needy state enterprises like Thai Airways International must embrace organisational restructuring.

Confident that spending an extra Bt97 billion would alleviate the economic malaise to some extent, Korn said the government would set up a disbursement committee to deal with problems.

"We do want to ensure that the Bt97-billion budget is completely disbursed," he said, adding that the committee should be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Korbsak Sabhavasu, who is in charge of economic matters.