State firms invest Bt170.8 bn in fiscal year’s first 10 months

The tally for the second quarter of this year jumped 20.5 per cent year on year, which contributed to economic growth of 3.7 per cent for the quarter.
Ekniti Nitithanprapas, director-general of the State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo), said the previous quarter’s growth in state-enterprise investment was 17 per cent.
From October 2016 to July 2017, state-enterprise disbursement of the budget for investment climbed 30 per cent, given acceleration in the state enterprises’ continuing and new projects, he said.
These projects include the Mass Rapid Transit Authority’s (MRTA) Green Line, National Housing Authority’s residential development and Metropolitan Electricity Authority’s distribution system.
Chanvit Nakburee, deputy director and spokesman for Sepo, said state-enterprise investment in the period totalled Bt170.84 billion or 81 per cent of the investment budget. 
State enterprises operating on a fiscal-year basis invested Bt73.94 billion or 72 per cent of the investment budget. Those operating on a calendar-year basis invested Bt96.89 billion or 90 per cent of the budget.
Among state enterprises with large projects, the MRTA invested Bt45.64 billion in the first 10 months of this year, followed by PTT Plc with Bt44.94 billion and MEA with Bt27.5 billion from January to July. 
Investments of Bt345.8 billion are planned for this year. The rest of the investment budget will be spent in the rest of this year, Ekniti said.
Several state enterprises are supporting government policies with plans and projects that can be front-loaded. Those that could not meet their budget disbursement targets have been asked to speed up their large-scale projects for the rest of this fiscal year, he added.