Thailand will pay overseas debts early
The government and state-run agencies will take advantage of the apppreciated baht and speed up repayments on overseas debts, to clear them before the due date, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said on Wednesday.
Mr Kittiratt said the government will repay the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) before the end of the loan period. Thailand owes around 34 billion baht to the Japanese lender.
Finance permanent secretary Areepong Bhoocha-oom said state enterprises were likely to repay 40-50 billion baht of overseas debt to foreign lenders within a six-month period, which would also help counter the strenghtening the baht.