BEIJING, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Thai cabinet has approved its Ministry of Finance to raised about 166.34 billion Thai Baht (about 35.4 billion yuan) of funds from overseas financial institutions for the construction of the China-Thailand high-speed railway project linking Bangkok and Nong Khai in Thailand, according to Bangkok Post.
According to the report, 85 percent of loans needed for the project will be sourced from overseas due to lower interest rates, such as the Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) which is willing to offer loans at the interest rate of 2.3 percent, 0.56 percentage point lower than the average interest rate of Thailand's local financial institutions.
The first phase of the project, from Bangkok with Nakhon Ratchasima province with total length of 252.5 kilometers, has started construction on December 21, 2017 . Once completed, the railway with a maximum speed of 250 km per hour will be the first high-speed railway of Thailand.
The second phase of the project will link Nakon Ratchasima with Nong Khai with total length of 350 kilometers, which will be submitted to Thailand cabinet for approval before the election.
It is noted that the Thai government will make further study to decide if the loan from China Eximbank are acceptable, and the decision making process will take another three months from now, a Thai official told the reporter from Bangkok Post. (Edited by Jiang Feifan)
A single purchase
