Finance Ministry brushes off protest over upcoming tax on stock trades
The Finance Ministry is brushing off protesters who called on Thursday for an end to trading on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and warned authorities they would shift their money to foreign bourses due to the upcoming financial transaction tax.
If they want to trade on foreign bourses to avoid paying tax here, they will have to pay a tax there and it may be higher than here, said Kritsada Jinavijarana, the ministry’s permanent secretary.
Kritsada said that the Office of the Council of State was still ironing out some details of the new tax.
Kritsada also expressed optimism that the Thai economy would attain 5% annual growth due to the government’s efforts to restructure the agricultural and industrial sectors.
If there is more investment in Eastern Economic Corridor or the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate the economy will expand, he said.
“Economic growth could come from several drivers, including tourism. Although the current base number [of tourists] is low, if 40 million tourists came to Thailand in 2023, it will help the [economy] grow,” he said, adding that if that number of tourists arrive next year the economy could grow by 5%,” Kritsada explained.
He also said he agreed with the estimate from the Fiscal Policy Office that the Thai economy would grow 3.4% this year and 3.8% next year.
Thailand remains secure financially and should be able to remain so in the long term, he added, explaining that the current level of foreign exchange reserves is “great”.
Kritsada declined to provide an opinion on the Pheu Thai’s policy goal of nearly doubling the minimum wage to 600 baht a day in four years, saying the Fiscal Policy Office is currently considering what effects this increase would have.
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