Thailand's fiscal
stimulus spending II
to rely on public
participation and vigilance
By Jon Fernquest 
Today
the World
Health Organisation
declared H1N1 swine
flu pandemic
'unstoppable' (Read article). The pandemic will likely depress global economic activity even further.
Many people forget that the global economy has long been following roughly the same course as the Great Depression of the 1930s (Read Martin Wolf at Financial Times and Barry Eichengreen at UC Berkeley).
When consumers tighten their belts and stop spending, the government has to step in with spending to sustain demand and keep the economy running.
Infrastructure and building projects such as irrigation canals, roads, and mass transit systems (skytrain, subway) are the best candidates for government spending because they provide long-term benefits as well as injecting money into the economy (Read Bangkok Post article on the potential for mass transit in Bangkok and Olivier Blanchard, Chief IMF economist).
If government spending is on the increase the public must be more vigilant.
Government spending must be monitored to make sure that the money gets spent quickly and without corruption or skimming.
New software allows real time tracking of government expenditures (See yesterday's article).
(See photo on right of a Caterpillar Tractor working on an infrastructure project).
Today's article follows the vocabulary:
participation -
being involved in an activity (rather than merely watching it happen)
public participation - when all the people in a country participate in a project or activity
vigilance - the state of paying careful attention, looking for danger or irregularities
World Health Organisation (WHO) - the United Nations agency that deals with public health issues like the current swine flu pandemic (See Wikipedia)
H1N1 swine flu - an outbreak of a new virus that began in Mexico and was identified in April 2009 (See Wikipedia)
an epidemic - a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease (See Wikipedia)
a pandemic - an epidemic of infectious disease spreading through a large region or the whole world (See Wikipedia)
depress global economic activity - when consumers buy less goods so companies produce less goods, all over the world
follow a course, track - go to a series of places, experience a series of events
following roughly the same course - the series of events in history are almost the same
tighten their belts - spend less during bad times
step in - intervene, start participating in some activity they usually don't participate in
demand, aggregate demand - the total demand for final goods and services in the economy (See Wikipedia)
sustain demand - keeping the buying and selling of goods in the economy going, so people can remain employed
infrastructure - The basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of the community, such as transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons (See Google Definitions)
irrigation canals - little artificial rivers that bring water to the crops farmers grow
candidates - possible choices for selection
injecting money into the economy - putting money into the economy
vigilant - pay careful attention looking for danger
skimming - taking a percentage of a project's budget for personal gain
real time tracking - seeing what is happening while it is actually happening
government expenditures - money spent by the government
Caterpillar Tractor - the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment such as tractors and bulldozers (See Wikipedia)
public participation - when all the people in a country participate in a project or activity
vigilance - the state of paying careful attention, looking for danger or irregularities
World Health Organisation (WHO) - the United Nations agency that deals with public health issues like the current swine flu pandemic (See Wikipedia)
H1N1 swine flu - an outbreak of a new virus that began in Mexico and was identified in April 2009 (See Wikipedia)
an epidemic - a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease (See Wikipedia)
a pandemic - an epidemic of infectious disease spreading through a large region or the whole world (See Wikipedia)
depress global economic activity - when consumers buy less goods so companies produce less goods, all over the world
follow a course, track - go to a series of places, experience a series of events
following roughly the same course - the series of events in history are almost the same
tighten their belts - spend less during bad times
step in - intervene, start participating in some activity they usually don't participate in
demand, aggregate demand - the total demand for final goods and services in the economy (See Wikipedia)
sustain demand - keeping the buying and selling of goods in the economy going, so people can remain employed
infrastructure - The basic facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of the community, such as transportation and communications systems, water and power lines, and public institutions including schools, post offices, and prisons (See Google Definitions)
irrigation canals - little artificial rivers that bring water to the crops farmers grow
candidates - possible choices for selection
injecting money into the economy - putting money into the economy
vigilant - pay careful attention looking for danger
skimming - taking a percentage of a project's budget for personal gain
real time tracking - seeing what is happening while it is actually happening
government expenditures - money spent by the government
Caterpillar Tractor - the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment such as tractors and bulldozers (See Wikipedia)
Korn: Public commitment a challenge
By: DARANA CHUDASRI14/07/2009
Ensuring broad public participation in the 1.5-trillion-baht "Strong Thailand" investment programme is a key challenge for the government, says Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij.
The government is touting the programme as a major economic stimulus initiative that will create up to 2 million jobs, and significantly upgrade the country's economic and social infrastructure, by 2012.
Mr Korn, speaking at a economics conference yesterday, said the government has under the stimulus programme expanded public-private partnershipsfive-fold, to a target 10% of total spending.
Transparency and accountability
Authorities also will develop new financial products to ensure broad public participation in the programme. They will also coordinate with other regional countries to increase the efficiency and productivity of the investments.About a trillion baht's worth of projects have been screened to date. Details for the entire programme should be completed by the end of the month, Mr Korn said.
Transparency and accountability are the foremost priorities, he said. Authorities will allow the public to monitor each project's progress online.
The strong response yesterday to the public savings bond offering was a sign that Thailand did not lack funds, said the minister.
"Instead, it is the efficiency of disbursement that is an issue," he said, adding that authorities would undergo a review of the budget disbursement process to identify bottlenecks.
Savings bonds sold out
Yesterday marked the first day of subscriptions for a 50-billion-baht, five-year savings bond issue that will help fund the infrastructure investment programme.The first lot of 15 billion baht in bonds were taken up quickly, with sales limited to Thai individuals aged over 60 with a limit of a million baht per person.
Hiroshi Watanabe, the chief executive and president of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, said stable demand for daily consumer and medium value-added goods would help Asia recover from the global crisis faster than other regions.
But export performance and commodities prices remained a concern, he said.
While Asian financial sectors remained significantly stronger than their North American or European counterparts, the region's investment efficiency was lacking, he said.
(Source: Bangkok Post, business, Korn: Public commitment a challenge, DARANA CHUDASRI, 14/07/2009, link)
commitment - a
promise to do something for a long time
public commitment - when the public promises to do something for a long time
a challenge - a new difficult task that requires energy and determination
a key challenge - one of the most important challenges
broad public participation - when a large part of the public in involved in an activity
touting Y - try to sell Y, try to convince people that Y is good
economic stimulus - government spending programmes and tax cuts to get the economy moving again and growing
an initiative - a new plan for solving a problem or achieving a goal
significantly upgrade - make important improvements
public-private partnerships - when the government and privately owned companies invest in projects and work together
expanded five-fold - increased to a level five times greater than what it was
coordinate - work together to achieve a goal
efficiency - getting a lot done with limited resources
productivity - the speed at which a worker, company, or country produces goods (some are fater than others)
screen - to check something to see if something is acceptable
screened to date - checked up to this point in time
transparency - visible to the public, easy to understand, no secrets or hidden things
accountability - being required to explain why all your decisions or actions were made
a priority - an important thing (that must be done before other things)
foremost priorities - the most important thing (that must be done before other things)
monitor - watch and check a process over a period of time, to make sure that it is successful and there are no problems
progress - when a project moves towards successful completion
disbursement - paying money to people or departments from a large fund
efficiency of disbursement - how quickly and accurately the money gets paid to departments and projects from budgeted funds (must mean without corruption too)
a review - a formal examination and checking of something by people in authority
undergo a review of the budget disbursement process - when a government committee looks at the details of paying out government money to see where the problems are
bottleneck - an obstacle, something that slows progress and completion of a project
identify bottlenecks - find the problem that is making the project go slowly
sold out - all of the good in the store has been sold
yesterday marked Y - yesterday important event Y happened
a subscription - agreeing or applying to buy stock shares or bonds
subscriptions for a 50-billion-baht, five-year savings bond issue -
bonds were taken up - the bonds that were offered were accepted and bought by people
Japanese Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) - a bank owned by the Japanese government, founded in 1999 to "promote economical cooperation between Japan and oversea countries, by providing resources to foreign investments and by fostering international commerce. It also has a major role in promoting Japanese exports and imports, and the country's activities overseas" (See Wikipedia)
stable demand - demand for goods that stays at the same level for a long time without jumping up and down
value-added - the value (or part of the price) that is added to a good at one stage of production and distribution
daily consumer goods - food, shampoo, toilet paper... the things we buy for everyday life
medium value-added goods - goods have some value added by Thai company and labour (the parts may come from outside the country)
performance - how successful someone is in doing some task
export performance - how successful a country is in gaining market share in world exportr markets
market share - the percentage of total customers that a company has in a market
commodities - a good bought in large quantities, with each unit the same, like rice or oil
commodities prices - note: Thailand exports a lot of agricultural commodities like rice, rubber, and sugar so these prices are important for national income
the financial sector - the part of a country's economy that deals with finance (banking, stocks, bonds, etc)
counterparts - people or organisations with a similar function or position or function in different countries or organisations
investment efficiency - how big the return and benefits are from investment
lacking - not having something
public commitment - when the public promises to do something for a long time
a challenge - a new difficult task that requires energy and determination
a key challenge - one of the most important challenges
broad public participation - when a large part of the public in involved in an activity
touting Y - try to sell Y, try to convince people that Y is good
economic stimulus - government spending programmes and tax cuts to get the economy moving again and growing
an initiative - a new plan for solving a problem or achieving a goal
significantly upgrade - make important improvements
public-private partnerships - when the government and privately owned companies invest in projects and work together
expanded five-fold - increased to a level five times greater than what it was
coordinate - work together to achieve a goal
efficiency - getting a lot done with limited resources
productivity - the speed at which a worker, company, or country produces goods (some are fater than others)
screen - to check something to see if something is acceptable
screened to date - checked up to this point in time
transparency - visible to the public, easy to understand, no secrets or hidden things
accountability - being required to explain why all your decisions or actions were made
a priority - an important thing (that must be done before other things)
foremost priorities - the most important thing (that must be done before other things)
monitor - watch and check a process over a period of time, to make sure that it is successful and there are no problems
progress - when a project moves towards successful completion
disbursement - paying money to people or departments from a large fund
efficiency of disbursement - how quickly and accurately the money gets paid to departments and projects from budgeted funds (must mean without corruption too)
a review - a formal examination and checking of something by people in authority
undergo a review of the budget disbursement process - when a government committee looks at the details of paying out government money to see where the problems are
bottleneck - an obstacle, something that slows progress and completion of a project
identify bottlenecks - find the problem that is making the project go slowly
sold out - all of the good in the store has been sold
yesterday marked Y - yesterday important event Y happened
a subscription - agreeing or applying to buy stock shares or bonds
subscriptions for a 50-billion-baht, five-year savings bond issue -
bonds were taken up - the bonds that were offered were accepted and bought by people
Japanese Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) - a bank owned by the Japanese government, founded in 1999 to "promote economical cooperation between Japan and oversea countries, by providing resources to foreign investments and by fostering international commerce. It also has a major role in promoting Japanese exports and imports, and the country's activities overseas" (See Wikipedia)
stable demand - demand for goods that stays at the same level for a long time without jumping up and down
value-added - the value (or part of the price) that is added to a good at one stage of production and distribution
daily consumer goods - food, shampoo, toilet paper... the things we buy for everyday life
medium value-added goods - goods have some value added by Thai company and labour (the parts may come from outside the country)
performance - how successful someone is in doing some task
export performance - how successful a country is in gaining market share in world exportr markets
market share - the percentage of total customers that a company has in a market
commodities - a good bought in large quantities, with each unit the same, like rice or oil
commodities prices - note: Thailand exports a lot of agricultural commodities like rice, rubber, and sugar so these prices are important for national income
the financial sector - the part of a country's economy that deals with finance (banking, stocks, bonds, etc)
counterparts - people or organisations with a similar function or position or function in different countries or organisations
investment efficiency - how big the return and benefits are from investment
lacking - not having something
comprehensively - covers all possible parts and aspects
