Revenue of state firms outperforms

State enterprises contributed 25% more income than targeted during the eight months through May, says the chief of the State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo).

From October to May, state enterprises submitted 125 billion baht to the government’s coffers, exceeding the target by 25.6 billion, said Prapas Kong-Ied, director-general of Sepo.

State enterprises contributed 12.9 billion baht to the government in May, he said.

The higher than expected income contribution has helped maintain fiscal stability, said Mr Prapas. He is confident the 137 billion baht state enterprise income contribution target for this fiscal year is reachable.

State enterprises’ income contribution has surpassed the target in recent years, with Sepo saying the adoption of innovation has beefed up their competitiveness and boosted earnings.

Government revenue outpaced the target by 4.9% during the seven months to April, thanks to higher than expected contributions from state enterprises and other state agencies. All three tax-collecting agencies missed the target over the same period.

For the October-to-April period, the Revenue Department fell short of the target by 4.9%, while the Excise Department and the Customs Department missed their targets by 0.7% and 3.2%, respectively.

The top five income contributors for the eight months were the Government Lottery Office, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, PTT Plc, Government Savings Bank and the Provincial Electricity Authority.

Mr Prapas said Sepo has encouraged state enterprises to employ technology, especially upgrades that can improve efficiency and cut down costs to comply with the government’s Thailand 4.0 agenda.

The fiscal 2018 revenue collection target is 2.45 trillion baht, while the annual budget is 2.9 trillion, yielding a deficit of 450 billion.

The deficit swells to 550 billion baht when an additional 100-billion borrowing plan for the supplementary budget is included.

For the 56 state enterprises, the income contribution target is 137 billion baht for fiscal 2018.

In the last fiscal year, state enterprises sent 162 billion baht to the government, outpacing the target by 23.9% and rising 21% from a year earlier.

WICHAN CHAROENKIATPAKUL A sign at PTT’s headquarters on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road. PTT was one of the five state enterprises that contributed the highest income to the government during the eight months through May.