The cancellation of the Oil Fund is incorrect. Prof. Dr. Narumon points out to help prevent risks in the era.

Prof. Dr. Naruemon Pinyosinwat Former Deputy Minister of Labor A personal Facebook post on the direction of energy price management services, stating that concept of cancellationfuel fundThat some parties proposed is not appropriate because it is equal to destroying the hedging mechanism from the volatility of retail oil prices.

while the concept of refraining from collecting money into the fund for some types of oil temporarily will create problems as well Because even though the retail price of that type of oil will drop immediately But when the period of refraining from collecting money is over must come back to collect money into the fund again, this time the retail price of that type of oil will immediately rise resulting in inflation and the price of the product must be rebounded accordingly Causing a shock in the economy if it should not be canceled and should not stop collecting funds.

The Oil Fund was established in 1973 to stabilize domestic fuel prices at an appropriate level if world oil prices rise. The retail price of oil in the country has also increased accordingly. The Fund will bring money to help compensate for the price. to keep retail prices from rising too much and too quickly As for the period when oil prices in the world market declined The government will collect money into the fund. to compensate for the money paid when the price of oil rose

So what is the solution? The answer is

must go back and look at the objectives and benefits of having a fund This is to keep the domestic fuel price stable at an appropriate level. But looking back on the use of the Fund money in the past, it was found that it was not only used to stabilize domestic retail fuel prices. But it was used to subsidize the price of LPG gas as high as 9.0486 baht per kilo (from the price structure as of February 24, 2023) because it was used by every household. Including the restaurant The government is trying to keep prices low so as not to affect many low-income households.

But the price subsidy until the price distorts from the market price greatly and lasts a long time distorts the behavior of energy users as well Until the size of expensive cars have been modified to use gas instead of oil. The solution therefore has to turn around and review the appropriate subsidy measures, namely helping groups that should receive significant assistance, such as low-income groups. and other vulnerable groups by setting up a separate budget This will help to get the lid right.

In addition, at some time, the Fund’s money was used to reduce the selling price of gasohol mixed with ethanol. which is produced from molasses or cassava and biodiesel produced from palm oil The reason for taking the fund to intervene to lower the price Is to make the demand for this type of oil more. and viewed as helping farmers But supporting farmers should not result in excessive price distortions. And the solution is to set a budget to subsidize farmers separately from the fund. in order to be able to monitor and verify that farmers are actually benefiting

Therefore, the fund should be maintained, but the money will be deposited into the fund. As far as stabilizing retail oil prices is sufficient. Reduce the distortion of fund spending The fastest and most suitable This method will reduce the amount of money needed to collect to the fund, which will immediately reduce the retail price of oil.

However, the oil fund’s use was not intended for that purpose. The legislature has passed the Fuel Fund Act 2019 into effect. Since September 24, 2019, with the only main objective specified in Section 5, which is to stabilize the domestic fuel price level at an appropriate level in the event of a fuel crisis only

along with requiring the cancellation of compensation for fuel containing biofuels But there is a transitional provision under Section 55 that continues to provide compensation for another 3 years and can be extended 2 more times, 2 years each time, that is, the compensation period can be extended until September 2026 only.

After that, the fuel fund It only serves to stabilize fuel prices during fuel crises.