Thailand's cabinet met on
October 18 to discuss the mounting economic cost of floods that have killed 315
people, and residents of Bangkok
were told not to drop their guard even if the immediate danger to the capital
had passed. 
Finance Minister Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala has said the damage from flooding since July could be as high as 1.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and ministers will discuss relief measures and extra government borrowing to pay for it.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on October 17 spending on reconstruction could amount to more than 100 billion baht (2.0 billion pound) after the worst floods in half a century damaged large areas of farmland and closed huge industrial estates.
The cabinet was to discuss a proposal to raise the budget deficit by 14 percent to 400 billion baht for this fiscal year from October 1.
The cost could go far higher if Bangkok, which accounts for 41 percent of GDP, is hit by floods.
Monsoon rain, high tides and water flowing down from reservoirs in northern Thailand had threatened the capital at the weekend but its defensive system of dikes and canals held.
However, Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra warned the danger was not completely over and that districts in the north of the capital may still face problems over the next 48 hours.
Reuters
