Thai gov't urged to use foreign reserves to boost national funds

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

BANGKOK, Feb. 3 (Chinese media) -- The Thai government should consider a

possibility of taking a portion of the country's foreign reserves to boost the

country's falling national operating funds, according to a top industrialist.

Earlier, local media reported the Finance Ministry's reserves or the

national operating funds have fallen to 50 billion baht (1.5 billion U.S.

dollars), which is enough for two months of salaries for civil servants.

Currently, Thailand's international reserves stand at over 100 billion U.S.

dollars or around 3.5 trillion baht.

The government should scrutinize the Bank of Thailand Act to determine how

much of the country's foreign exchange reserves was legally allowed to be used

by the government amid the country's economic meltdown, Santi Vilassakdanont,

chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said, the website by the

Thai News Agency reported Tuesday.

"A partial amount of the international reserves can be used to shore up the

declining fiscal coffer if the country's economy is in crisis. When the economy

picks up and international trade increases, the international reserves will

eventually rise to the previous level," the website quoted Santi as saying.