Thai government revenue collection in the first four months of the 2025 fiscal year was 826 billion baht, exceeding the target by 1.3%, according to Pornchai Thiraveja, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO).
The Revenue Department collected 646 billion baht during the period from October 2024 to January 2025, 1.2% more than the target, thanks to the expansion of value-added tax revenue driven by increasing domestic consumption.
The Excise Department collected 173 billion baht, lower than the target by 1.4%, while the Customs Department collected 38.8 billion baht, 6.8% lower than the target.
Mr Pornchai said one reason for the higher overall revenue collection was the contribution of state enterprises for this fiscal year that was leftover from the previous fiscal year, as these enterprises failed to pay the 2024 revenue on time.
During the first four months of fiscal 2025, state enterprises contributed revenue of 59.7 billion baht, 40% higher than the target, while the other small state agencies contributed 65.8 billion baht, higher than the target by 12.6%.
The FPO projects average GDP growth of 3% this year or within the range of 2.5% to 3.5%.
Private consumption this year is estimated to expand 3.3%, driven by state stimulus packages and the rising income of farmers.
Exports are projected to grow 4.4%, due to the improving economies of Thailand's trading partners. The number of international tourists is expected to reach 38.5 million.
Earlier Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said GDP grew by only 2.5% last year because the country had not invested substantially in new industries and had not prepared the workforce for future industries over the past decade.
She said Malaysia had prepared semiconductor manufacturing for a long time, while Vietnam trained its citizens in coding.
