Thailand plans to sell 164 billion baht ($5.2 billion) of government bonds in July-September and will use short-term bills rather than bank loans to help finance flood-management projects, a senior Finance Ministry official said on Tuesday.
The bond total compares with about 177 billion baht planned for April to June and is part of the 525 billion baht of debt to be issued in the fiscal year to Sept. 30 to help finance the budget deficit.
For now, the ministry is sticking to a plan to offer 100 billion baht of savings bonds to small savers by September, but it may not do so, Chakkrit Parapuntakul, director-general of the Public Debt Management Office, told Reuters.
"The plan is still good but we want to wait and see whether the situation in Europe will be so severe that we need more funds. If not, we may not do it," he said in an interview. Chakkrit also said the country's treasury reserves were strong and could reach 550 billion baht at the end of this fiscal year.