PM directs agencies to closely monitor Eurozone crisis; provide weekly updates (21/6/2012) At Santi Maitri building, the Government House, Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra, the Prime Minister addressed during an interview concerning Eurozone economic crisis’s impact on Thailand that she had initially directed involved sectors to study both direct and indirect impacts. For indirect impact, detailed and overview evaluations on banking transaction which directly affects Thailand’s trading partners in Eurozone are needed. Moreover, responsible sectors needed to study the issue. Today, the government also conducted a meeting with involved sectors in order to monitor the situation and appoint the cabinet working on economic affairs to carefully analyze the current situation and risk such as labor issue, and business profit of each business sector affected from the Eurozone crisis. The information thus contributes to the government’s study and preparation as a way to carefully protect the country from the crisis.
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An urgent and necessary issue in industrial sector affected from the crisis and delay is textile export industrial sector. A discussion between responsible agencies and industrial sector affected from the crisis is scheduled to be organized so that every sector agrees with measures requesting for the government’s support. Asked whether the Eurozone crisis affects Thai economic growth, the Prime Minister replied that the growth rate is improving after the flood crisis. Moreover, in-depth understanding about the situation is needed. Euro’s countering measures against the crisis determines Thailand’s targeted economic growth rate. The Prime Minister assigned Ministry of Finance, Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, and Bank of Thailand to closely monitor the situation. In addition, those three agencies needed to prepare for the worst case scenario and its impact on Thailand as well as the best case scenario if the Euro is successful in tackling the crisis. Therefore, a careful and close monitoring process is needed. The Prime Minister also stated that Thailand has to place importance on solving her own problem. Capacity building and preparation among SMEs, domestic economic growth stimulation, and factories strengthening are listed among the early things Thailand needs to do. The meeting held with government agencies established a weekly conference between responsible ministers to monitor economic situation. Ministers involved are from 9 ministries including Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Tourism & Sports, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labor, and Ministry of Industry. The conference to be chaired by the Prime Minister aims at monitoring and providing preparation measures for the crisis. In addition, the meeting assigned Ministry of Finance, Bank of Thailand, and Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board to provide a template so that every involved agency can report the situation in overview and in sub-field in order to find trigger point for preparation measures. The template provides an analysis on base case, worst case scenario, Euro’s impact, and a daily report starting by next week. In this opportunity, the Prime Minister assigned Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Labor, and Ministry of Commerce to provide a preparation measure for the prospective impacts on 4 industrial sectors such as textile, electronics, jewelry, and automobile. She also assigned Ministry of Finance to consider restructuring State-owned enterprise’s foreign debt so that it is compatible with currency fluctuation as a result of the Eurozone crisis.
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