The cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 21 August 2012 has come to the following decision
The Cabinet approved Finance Minister under the Article 103 of Excise Tax Act B.E. 2527 (1984) to further amend Excise Tax Act (Vol. 2) B.E. 2534 with one month extension in order to readjust prices on diesel fuel: from 1 September 2012 to 30 September 2012, following the Finance Ministry’s recommendation.
Government measures to reduce the tax rate on diesel fuel has ended on 31 August 2012. However, the retail price of diesel remains high, and if there was an increase in the fuel tax, the public would inevitably have to bare more burden. Hence, the extension was introduced to readjust excise tax on diesel fuel with sulfur content less than 0.005 percent by weight at the rate of 0.005 baht per liter, as well as diesel with biodiesel type with methyl ester mixture no less than 4 percent at 0.005 baht per liter. The extension was made from 1 September 2012 to 30 September 2012.
Following the recommendation by Official of the National Economy and Social Development Board, the Cabinet approved of further alteration of the state budget for fiscal year 2012 with the amount for the investment spending from 852,202 and 537,561 million baht to 952,202 and 577,561 million baht, respectively. In this connection, the NESDB and Finance Ministry are to jointly determine performance indicators and efficient operation of the enterprise after the budget has been altered.
Following the recommendation by Official of the National Economy and Social Development Board, the Cabinet approved the following:
1. Approved the Improvement plans/projects in the northeast, lower provinces 1 and lower provinces 2 under the fiscal year 2012. In particular, there have been 6 projects with 14 other plans with the budget amounting to 86.50 million baht. Responsible agencies are to oversee relevant implementation and ensure concrete outcomes.
2. Approved Improvement plans/projects in the northeast, lower provinces 1 and lower provinces 2 which are ready to undergo immediate implementations. This included 6 projects with the budget amounting to 84.82 million baht in lieu of other existing projects. Budget allocation will be under the fiscal year 2012, as well as the central budget and the budget for emergency situations with precise detail to be determined in two weeks’ time.
The Cabinet acknowledged the outcome of the Flood Recovery and Restoration Committee meeting 7/2012 and approved the decision, inline with the royal act, to advance reserve budget by Finance Ministry for water management and the nation building efforts. The sum amounted to 350,000 million baht; 148,620,000 baht was allocated for plans/projects proposed by relevant agencies as follows:
1. Royal Thai Navy: 1 plan; 10 propeller boats with capacity to drain 100,000 cubic meter/day with total expense of 19,850,000 baht.
2. Bangkok Municipality: 3 plans; 14 Submersible Propellers 120 cubic meter/minute with total expense of 42,840,000 baht, 10 Submersible Propeller 180 cubic meter/minute with total expense of 32,680,000 baht and 6 Submersible Propeller 258 cubic meter/minute with total expense of 53,250,000 baht. The expenses of the three plans totaled 128,770,000 baht. As for additional costs related to the set up of a straining system, the Cabinet has resolved the matter, during its meeting on 24 July 2012, by appointing Royal Irrigation Department to disburse the returned amount to the government, including the central budget for flood recovery, restoration and prevention, which amounted to 120,000 baht form the total amount of 249,476,000 baht.
Following Energy Ministry’s recommendation, the Cabinet approved the following measures:
1. Draft amendment No. 3 pertaining to natural gas contract A-18 between Thailand and Malaysia under PC JDA Limited and Hess Oil Limited on behalf of PTT’ oil vendors and Petronas’ oil buyers.
2. Requested both parties to co-sign the aforementioned draft document pertaining to natural gas contract A-18 granted the document was previously approved by the Office of the Attorney General.
Following the Cabinet meetings (7 July 1998, 14 September 1999, 14 September 2004 and 13 February 2005):
1. Petronas Co., Ltd. has notified Thailand-Malaysia joint organization that the domestic gas demand was high, the company hence wished to procure 70 million cubic feet per day of gas per day in A-18 land (currently the land has the capacity of 850 million cubic feet per day with daily delivery of 421 to the Petronas) for the duration of 1 year, from the 1st quarter of 2012. As a result, both parties had organized the drafting of the joint amendment No.3 on 8 March 2012.
2. Thailand-Malaysia joint organization has proposed the draft amendment No.3 related to the contract A-18 in the joint development area of both countries. The committee has approved during the 97th joint meeting on 24 March 2012 and has signed an Initial with all contracted partners for the approval from the Thai government (as well as from the Malaysia side) before further signing of the document.
3. Summary of Draft Amendment No. 3 as follows
3.1 The contract came into force on 3 January 2012 until the ending of the contract on 30 October 2012.
3.2 The vendor group is to deliver 70 million cubic feet per day to the Petronas (with additional 20 million cubic feet should it be requested from the company) for the duration of 1 year, from the beginning of this year’s first quarter
3.3 The amount exceeding 869 million cubic feet per day will be charged for 1.50 USD per million BTU
3.4 The Petronas Company will be responsible solely for all obligations and liabilities of the buyer under this contract.
4. The Department of Mineral Fuels (DMF) has duly delivered the draft document No.3 to the Office of the Attorney General for further proceedings.
--Cabinet Meeting (Yingluck Shinawatra) August 21, 2012--