Bid to boost procurement
The Comptroller-General’s Department is drafting a bill on government procurement to make the process more transparent and standardise it to an international level.
The draft will cover procurement by both government agencies and state enterprises, director-general Manas Jamveha said.
He said his department was considering whether procurement by local administrations should also be supervised.
The recent state announcement requiring provincial Treasury officials to be board members tasked with supervising procurement by local administrations reflects that the new government is paying attention to this issue, Mr Manas said.
At present, only regulations are used to supervise the government’s procurement process.
A Finance Ministry source said transparency was the main problem for local administrations’ procurement, with some officials alleged to be linked to construction firms that won bids for projects. Some companies even dare to start building before the bidding process has started.
In fiscal 2015, the government has earmarked 257 billion baht f or local administrations.
In a bid to raise revenue for local administrations and lower the government’s burden, the Finance Ministry is set to levy a land and buildings tax after an inheritance and gift tax takes effect.
The Fiscal Policy Office has proposed a ceiling rate of 4% for unused land and land for commercial use.
For unused land, the rate would double every three years but not exceed the maximum level of 4% of the appraised value.
Maximum rates will be set at 0.5% for land for agricultural use and 1% for residential use.
The land and buildings tax will come into force 18 months after publication in the Royal Gazette to give the Treasury Department time to assess the value of 23 million land plots nationwide