The Finance Ministry is planning to issue government savings bonds worth 40 billion baht within March to roll over the government's debt burden, says Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat.
According to the plan by the Finance Ministry's Public Debt Management Office (PDMO), there will be a sale of government savings bonds worth about 100 billion baht in fiscal 2024, with the first batch in March to manage the fiscal burden and raise government funding.
He said Thailand is also planning to issue bonds in foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar, yuan and yen (Samurai bond) to create a benchmark for the private sector who want to raise funds overseas. This will be the first time such bonds have been issued in foreign currency denominations for 20 years.
During the 17th Asian Financial Forum (AFF) last week, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) also expressed an interest in the Thai government issuing bonds in its capital market, he said.
Even though US interest rates are currently higher than Thai rates, the interest rates of many other countries are still lower than Thailand such as Japan, while China has an interest rate that is similar to that of Thailand.
He said the purpose of issuing bonds in a foreign currency not only pertains to diversifying currency risk or reducing funding costs, but also creates a benchmark for the private sector which wants to raise funds overseas.
Furthermore, small and medium-sized enterprises and the private sector of HKSAR expressed an interest in the government's Land Bridge megaproject as well as other projects such as the U-Tao Deep Sea Port Development Project Phase 2.
Mr Julapun plans to visit HKSAR in February this year to proceed with earlier discussions.