Mr Abhisit (left) said, 'Once I think these three conditions are satisfied, it's very possible that the country will get a chance to vote.' --PHOTO: REUTERS
BANGKOK - THAI Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Thursday he wanted to see a stimulus package bearing fruit and fulfil Thailand's commitments as chair of a regional grouping before calling a general election.
He said the country also needed time to cool down politically after violent protests against his government in April forced the cancellation of a regional summit and raised doubts about Thailand's stability.
Summit will happen
The chaos in April - when leaders from South-east Asia, China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand were due to discuss the global financial crisis - was a huge embarrassment for Mr Abhisit.
He said his government would do 'whatever is necessary' to guarantee the security of future meetings hosted by Thailand as chair of the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) until December.
'Once I think these three conditions are satisfied, it's very possible that the country will get a chance to vote,' Mr Abhisit told Reuters in an interview.
The Thai leader will travel to Hong Kong on Friday to give a speech aimed at convincing investors and tourists that Thailand is once again a safe destination.
'Thailand is back in business. There are still plenty of opportunities here. We have the key policies in place,' the 44-year-old, Oxford-educated premier said.
Thailand has been locked in a three-year-old political crisis pitting Bangkok's middle classes and royalist and military establishment against supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who was ousted in a 2006 coup.
The government is rolling out a three-year, 1.43 trillion baht (S$60.65 billion) package of stimulus measures to help an economy Mr Abhisit expected to shrink by 4-5 per cent this year.
Mr Abhisit said more measures would not be needed if the package was fully implemented, but he urged commercial banks to boost their lending.
He said Thailand's central bank still had room to cut interest rates but previous reductions had failed to prod commercial banks into lending to support the economy.
Mr Abhisit said there was ample liquidity in the banking system and interest rates were low, but 'clearly the banks are still reluctant to lend'.
'The only thing preventing credit getting out is risk attitude,' he said. -- REUTERS
