The cabinet meeting on Tuesday 16, February 2010 has come to the following decision:
The Cabinet approved the allocation of Farmer Supporting Fund to the Department of Agricultural Extension amounting 739 million Baht in order to execute the project of supporting farmers who have been affected by the spread of brown plant hopper, grassy stunt disease, and ragged stunt disease. The Department of Agricultural Extension has to set up a budget to reimburse the full amount to the Farmer Supporting Fund in year 2011 according to the Farmer Supporting Committee as proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
Measures to Accelerate Agencies Receiving Approval of Investment Budget within Thai Khem Khaeng Project 2012 (Budget limit 199,960.60 million Baht)
1. For agencies not completing proposal for allocation, information for allocating Thai Khem Khaeng Project 2012 must be submitted for the Budget Bureau consideration within 23rd February 2010. In case of projects during price auction or under consideration of Thai Khem Khaeng Project 2012 Screening and Management Committee, the information submitting deadline for the Budget Bureau consideration is extended to 31st March 2010.
2. For agencies completing allocation but not signed in the contract, the signing must be completed within 31st March 2010.
If the timeframe within number 1 and 2 cannot be met, the project will be terminated to transfer the allocation to another project with more readiness to execute but not yet approved (except the Ministry of Public Health and the Vocational Education Commission that the Cabinet approved on 26th January 2010 to further extend the submission to the Budget Bureau consideration).
1. For effectively monitoring and reporting investment project outcomes of Thai Khem Khaeng Project 2012, each responsible agency has to record every project’s investment plan, investment period, and financial flow according to Projects Financial Monitoring System (PFMS) by the Ministry of Finance after completing the allocation and/or the contract signing. Hence, the reporting information from PFMS system will be used by the Ministry of Finance to consider the project’s progress. If there is no information report, the project will be considered undeveloped and then terminated. The allocation will be transferred to another project with more readiness to execute but not yet approved. Besides, the Ministry of Finance is assigned to consider the clear and suitable reporting timeframe for responsible agency and to inform every agency as such.
The Cabinet approved in principle as proposed by the Ministry of Interior as follows: Approval of central budget, item emergency or necessity reserve, to repay fine incurred from default on delivering the Government’s revenue of 641 projects worth 123,324,148 Baht to the Local Administration to further reimburse the contractor.
The disbursement of central budget is available when the Comptroller General’s Department has verified the fine refund and approved the withdrawal of the fine.
The Ministry of Interior has to make another details agreement with the Budget Bureau and took action of the comments from the Ministry of Finance.
The Cabinet acknowledged the monitoring measures for regulated 202 products and 20 services as of February 2010 as proposed by the Ministry of Commerce as follow:
1. Sensitive List (SL) group consists of 9 products that have to be watched closely including (1) Ready-to-eat food as the price of raw material, which is mainly meat, was rising. (2) Gasoline fuel (3) Diesel fuel as the colder than normal weather drove the demand for heating oil higher. (4) Steel bar (5) Structural steel (6) Hot rolled and cold rolled steel sheet & plate and stainless as the price of raw material rose marginally and it is predicted that the new round of agreement will drive up the price of iron ore around 20-30%. (7) Tin steel sheet (8) Chromium steel sheet as the price of raw material is on the rising trend along with the global market. (9) Cement as the construction season drove up price due to higher demand from recovering economy. One service in SL group is logistics either goods, documents, or faxes since the fuel prices had effect on service prices.
2. Priority Watch List (PWL) group consists of 6 products including (1) Powdered milk (2) Condensed milk as the global price of condensed milk is on downward trend due to high competition. (3) Wire as the global price of copper is still rising along with continuously growing demand. (4) LPG cooking as petroleum price grew up with crude price from higher demand in Asia and other regions. (5) Chemical fertilizer as the price rose from higher chemical fertilizer demand as a result of growing crop prices. (6) Battery as price continuously increased along with global trends and Chinese demand is on the rise since it becomes the world’s largest lead producer and exporter. One service in PWL group is car maintenance as problems and complaints often been reported.
3. Watch List (WL) group consists of products with normal prices movement and no indicating sign of price or volume problem. WL group is to be watched normally including 187 products and 18 services.
The Cabinet approved of the budget framework extension for assisting countries with disaster as proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as follows:
1. Neighboring countries including Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, and ASEAN countries, which are of important to Thailand, will be granted a budget framework extension from 6 million Baht to 10 million Baht.
2. Developing countries in Asia and the Pacific, which support Thailand in international political stage, will be granted a budget framework extension from 3 million Baht to 7 million Baht.
3. Countries in Africa, Middle East, and other regions together with donation to international organizations will be granted a symbolic donation framework extension from 1 million Baht to 5 million Baht.
Content
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the Cabinet approved on 19th January 2010 for the budget framework extension for assisting countries with disaster as proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 10 million Baht to 30 million Baht in order to enhance assistance to other countries in time. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs then proposed for the Cabinet’s approval for the budget framework extension for assisting countries faced with disasters, to be in line with Thailand’s foreign affairs strategy as an emerging donor in the international arena.
--Cabinet Meeting (Abhisit Vejjajiva) January 16, 2010--