Q+A - Will post-election spending affect Thai fiscal, monetary policy?

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's Puea Thai Party, which won a landslide election victory on Sunday, pledged a range of populist measures during its campaign, from wage increases to infrastructure projects to computers for school children.

Here are some implications of these measures for public debt, inflation, monetary policy and the markets.

WHAT DO THE PROMISES MEAN FOR FISCAL POLICY, FUNDING?

Among its eye-catching promises, Puea Thai says it will give a tablet computer to about 800,000 new schoolchildren each year, at a cost of about 5,000 baht (102 pounds) each.

It has promised high-speed trains across the country and annual development funds of between 300,000 and two million baht for each of Thailand's 73,000 villages.

These populist measures would require billions of dollars of spending and could stimulate Southeast Asia's second-largest economy.

But tax revenue is already low at 17 percent of GDP and Puea Thai is also promising to cut corporate tax to help companies cope with other of its proposals that will push up wages.

So the new government will probably oversee a bigger budget deficit than the 350 billion baht planned by its predecessor for the tax year starting October 1, pushing up public debt and adding to inflationary pressure.

Even before the election outcome, the Finance Ministry planned to sell about 450-500 billion baht of government bonds in the fiscal year from October 1, up from about 410 billion baht this year, according to Chakkrit Parapuntakul, chief of the Public Debt Management Office.

Chakkrit said that, by law, public debt must not exceed 60 percent of gross domestic product but it is only around 42 percent now, so the government had some leeway to push up borrowing.

Much will depend on whether all the policies are implemented, and how quickly.

"If they pursue some of this spending too aggressively, it could well cause some fiscal problems, and also put the Bank of Thailand in a difficult position," said economist David Cohen at Action Economics in Singapore.

The debt-to-GDP ratio was already expected to rise above 60 percent -- generally regarded as the safe limit for developed economies -- within six years, according to the central bank. Sudden expansionary policies could accelerate that trend.

The bond market could suffer from a jump in issuance if the government chooses to finance projects through borrowing.

Yields have already risen steadily this year, especially at the short end, with two-year yields up 100 basis points and five-year yields up about 53 basis points, but the government has not had trouble finding buyers for its debt.

WHAT ABOUT INTEREST RATES, INFLATION?

Puea Thai has promised a daily minimum wage of 300 baht, up 40 percent from the average around the country, and a 41 percent increase in the monthly wage for new graduates.

That would be good for consumption but bad for inflation.

The spending plans will add to the pressure. Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul has warned the government should not go above the 350 billion baht deficit for 2011/12 because that would push up inflation and monetary policy might have to be tightened more than it otherwise would be.

Many economists now believe the central bank will be more hawkish than expected this year.

"We see scope for a cumulative 100 bps in hikes here on as lower fuel prices, an extension of subsidies and optimism from the election results will underpin domestic demand in the coming months," said Forecast economist Radhika Rao in Singapore. She now expects the policy rate to be 4.0 percent by the year-end rather than 3.50 percent.

The Bank of Thailand is widely expected to raise its benchmark rate, the one-day repurchase rate, by a quarter of a point to 3.25 percent at its meeting on July 13, which would be the eighth increase since July last year.

Credit Suisse said it estimated that a 10 percent rise in wages added about 1 percentage point to core inflation. It has raised its end-2011 policy rate forecast to 3.75 percent from 3.50 percent. KGI Securities said the rate could go as high as 4.25 percent this year.

The central bank aims to keep core inflation, which excludes energy and fresh food prices, in a range of 0.5-3.0 percent.

It hit 2.55 percent in June and the central bank has already said it could go above the target range at some point this year. Annual headline inflation dipped to 4.06 percent in June; government price controls and subsidies on fuel, public transport and some utilities have helped hold it down.

(Editing by Alan Raybould)