Thailand Government: The government of Thailand is preparing to impose extra tax on gold these days. Bank of Thailand and the country’s Finance Ministry are discussing this. After all, why does the Thailand government want to do this? According to Bloomberg report, this tax is planned to be purchased and saved on the gold settled in the Thai currency Baht, especially through online channels.
Why is tax on gold on gold?
Like India, people in Thailand also like gold. Thailand is the net importer of Gold. But this year the price of gold has risen about 40%. People took advantage of this opportunity and started selling gold and took the dollar and turned it into Thai Baht. The result was that Thai Baht suddenly reached a four -year high.
Strong currency is not good for a country like Thailand because a large part of the economy here is about 20% on tourism. When the currency becomes very strong, tourists coming from abroad cost more and this can affect tourism.
What does the government say?
The Central Bank believes that the situation has arisen due to increasing gold exports and weakening of the US dollar. Recently, the US has imposed a 19% tariff on the goods going from Thailand, which has increased the pressure on the trade. Because of this, the government now wants the currency to be kept under a little control by taxing the gold.
According to Bloomberg’s report, this tax will not apply to gold deals that are in US dollars, trades on the futures exchange or are purchased directly from bullion shops.
The government of Thailand is also worried about gold exports especially about gold going to Cambodia. There is a border dispute between the two countries and it is feared that Gold is being used for money laundering in gray business such as scams and casinos.
New government’s challenge
It is a big challenge to keep the currency under control in front of Anutin Charnavirakul, who became Prime Minister on 5 September. In August itself, Thailand’s Parliament passed a budget of $ 117 billion. At the same time, the Central Bank has reduced interest rates to a minimum level of two years for the fourth time in a year so that the weaker section can be relieved. Overall, Thailand wants to impose tax on gold so that the currency is not strong and the economy can be balanced along with tourism.