The loans for the government's infrastructure development megaprojects will be sought mainly from domestic financial institutions, Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said yesterday.
On Tuesday, the cabinet approved the two trillion baht infrastructure development bill, and it is expected to be forwarded to the House of Representatives for consideration next week.
On the Yingluck Government Meets the People weekly television programme, Mr Kittiratt said the loans would be gradually acquired between now and Dec 31, 2020.
Thailand currently has sufficient liquidity to fund the government's infrastructure overhaul over the next seven years. Therefore, local loans will be the main source of funding and small foreign loans would be sought when necessary, he said.
The minister said even when the two trillion baht in loans was acquired, the public debt would stand at no more than 50% of gross domestic product, which is still lower than the set ceiling of 60% of GDP.
The debts will be repaid over a 50-year timeframe, he added.
However, the opposition Democrat Party has cast doubt over the debt estimate and says the bill lacks sufficient detail, which could make the infrastructure projects vulnerable to corruption.
Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said his party was ready to question the government over the bill.
He said former ministers from his old administration would on Tuesday provide the opposition whip with information on the Thai Khem Khaeng stimulus package implemented during his tenure, and former ministers from the Chuan Leekpai government would do likewise with details of the Miyazawa loan programme. Under that programme, the Democrat government borrowed 53 billion baht to stimulate the economy in 1998.
This is to counter any criticisms the government may throw back at the Democrats.
Democrat MP for Bangkok Atthawit Suwanphakdi said the Finance Ministry is basing its debt figure on incorrect assumptions, including an unrealistic projection of annual economic growth of 7.5% for more than seven years and the expectation that the rice pledging scheme would not face losses. The public debt should reach 60% of GDP, he said.