Thread: Economists back budget deficit policy

Bangkok Post : Economists back budget deficit policy


Economists back budget deficit policy

• Published: 17/08/2010 at 10:41 AM
• Online news: Economics

Bangkok Poll reports that 85.10 per cent of the economists surveyed recently support the government’s budget deficit policy to boost the Thai economy.


But most of them said the government should maintain the budget deficit ratio to gross domestic product at less than 4.1 per cent, the Bangkok University pollsters reported on Tuesday morning.


A total of 58.1 per cent of the respondents said the current public debt of 42.6 per cent to GDP was not a problem of concern as the government is capable of managing it; 35.1 per cent of them believed the government would be able to introduce a balance fiscal budget system in 2015 as planned.


However, 71.6 per cent of the polled economists thought the government was not well-prepared to introduce a policy of social welfare for the elderly in the near future.


Nearly 39 per cent of them suggested the government impose taxes on land and buildings to increase revenue and get ready for the welfare state's implementation and to minimise social inequality.


Bangkok Poll sought opinions from economists working in leading state agencies and private firms on Aug 5-9.