The government has also continued to strengthen the grassroots economy and this move will be become more apparent at the end of this year, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said yesterday on the topic of the direction of public and private partnerships to drive Thailand this year.

He was speaking during the FTI Outlook 2016 event hosted in Bangkok yesterday by the Federation of Thai Industries.

This year, Thais would see more help from the private sector in conjunction with the government in driving the economy, such as the “One Tambon, One Agricultural SME” and “One Tambon, One Shopping Walking Street” schemes.

The One Tambon, One Agricultural SME project will be backed by a loan package with an interest rate of 0.01 per cent.

The Cabinet was expected today to consider a fund of up to Bt35 billion to boost the grass-roots economy via the “Village Fund” scheme under the grassroots assistance policy.

Each of the country’s 70,000 villages would be allocated up to Bt500,000.

After the meeting with government officials earlier on the day, Somkid told reporters that the government would make an effort to get going on its mega-projects this first quarter, or by no later than midyear.

This will help investment money spread into the economic system by the second half, he said.

“Now there is a sign of a pick-up in investment activities, in both the public and private sectors.

“We expect to disburse a total of Bt66.8 billion from the investment budget this year,” he said.

The captains of industry expressed optimism at the same event that the economy would show forward progress this year, driven by the massive government spending on mega infrastructure projects and the Pracha Rat policies.

Kan Trakulhoon, a board member of SCG, said he is hopeful that the infrastructure projects by the government would help stimulate the economy this year.

They will also help boost local demand for construction services and building materials to offset declining demand in China.

Prasert Bunsumpun, chairman of PTT Global Chemical, said the global oil price in the next two to three years is expected to find its equilibrium by running from the present US$30-40 per barrel up to $60 per barrel, but this is based on the global economy continuing to expand.

If this happens, it is unlikely to significantly affect the local oil retail price. A global oil price of $60 per barrel would make the local retail price of diesel soar to only Bt25-Bt26 per litre.

However, businesses should make adjustments to use energy more efficiently.

The demand for energy in Thailand this year is expected to expand 2 per cent against forecast GDP growth of 3 per cent.

The global oil price is estimated to hover around $30 per barrel, given the glut in the world market.

But some petroleum companies are likely to be struggling amid the low oil price situation, which might open the way for mergers and acquisitions in the industry.

The market capitalisation of PTT and PTT Exploration and Production dropped by Bt500 billion combined over the past year.

“The government should also continue to pursue an overall energy price reform,” he said.

The technologies that are tending to influence the oil industry more include advanced energy storage and advanced oil and gas exploration, which will make it easier to discover oil and gas, he added.

Boonchai Chokwatana, chairman of Saha Pathanapibul, the trading arm of Saha Group, said he wants to propose to the government to use populist policies to help low-income people.