State enterprises disbursed an investment budget of almost 100 billion baht from October 2021 to April 2022, representing 29% of the total investment budget, according to State Enterprise Policy Office director-general Pantip Sripimol.
As of April, their combined disbursement was 99.7 billion baht out of a total investment budget of 338 billion.
Out of 43 state enterprises with their own investment budget, the majority use the fiscal year from October to September for accounting purposes, while others use the calendar year.
The 34 enterprises using the fiscal year disbursed investment of 56.9 billion baht from October to April, while the nine enterprises using the calendar year disbursed 42.7 billion baht.
Mrs Pantip said among the five state enterprises' megaprojects, disbursement continued as planned, including the State Railway of Thailand's (SRT) double track projects, the Den Chai-Chiang Rai-Chiang Khong route, the Ban Phai-Maha Sarakham-Roi Et-Mukdahan-Nakhon Phanom route, and the Nakhon Pathom-Chumphon route.
This scheme includes the SRT's Red Line project from Bang Sue to Rangsit and the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand's Orange Line project from Thailand Cultural Centre to Min Buri.
She said the office plans to closely monitor state enterprise investment to ensure it meets the target, which would help support economic recovery.
In addition to state enterprise investment, the government has its own investment budget.
The government set aside a total investment budget of 604 billion baht for fiscal 2022, of which 31.1% was disbursed as of the end of March.
The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) downgraded its 2022 growth forecast to an average of 3.5% from 4.0%, mainly attributed to the Russia-Ukraine war and its effect on domestic energy prices.
The FPO expects economic growth to be in a range of 3-4%, compared with the previous range of 3.5-4.5%.
The office predicts state investment this year will expand 4.6%, while private sector investment will grow 4.5%.
Earlier FPO director-general Pornchai Thiraveja said government policies will play a key role in supporting economic expansion.
