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Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said it would be more worthwhile for the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) to lease-purchase the NGV bus fleet through securitisation.

Under securitisation, future BMTA revenue would be used as a guarantee as the agency securitises its debt to finance the lease-purchase.

Korn said under a lease-purchase deal, the BMTA would own the buses at the end of the 10-year lease period.

Amid growing political pressure, the Cabinet on Wednesday postponed the Bt64-billion lease deal for the BMTA's NGV bus fleet pending a study by the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB).

The senators had threatened to vote down the Budget Bill for fiscal 2010 and impeach the entire Cabinet if it approved the project. Many senators have accused the deal of being tainted with corruption.

The Cabinet has given the NESDB one month to come up with a recommendation as to whether it would be better for the BMTA to acquire the NGV bus fleet through a leasing programme or an outright purchase plan.

However, Korn is now proposing a lease-purchasing plan instead, because interest would be lower.

He said the Transport Ministry, which has regulatory oversight over the BMTA, has pegged interest for the lease project at 10.25 per cent.

"We've stumbled on this issue, but since the project would be guaranteed by the government, the interest should fall to a similar level as government borrowing," Korn said.

The Public Debt Management Office estimates a debt-to-equity ratio of 3 for the bus-lease project, which should result in an interest rate of about 6.75 per cent. Thus, the size of the project has been reduced from Bt67 billion to Bt64 billion.

The BMTA had outstanding debt of Bt57 billion at the end of last year, Bt43 billion of which was guaranteed by the Finance Ministry.

A Transport Ministry study has found the BMTA must service at least 2.5 million passengers a day to run a viable business, but the BMTA now services only 2 million passengers a day.