The government will support the development of the capital market with the aim to boost its capitalisation to 130 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in five years, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Thursday.

In hisl speech, Thai Capital Market Drives Strong Thai Economy, presented at the opening function of the "SET in the City Fair" held by the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) at Siam Paragon, Mr Abhisit said the government realizes that there will be more fierce competition in the capital market in the future.

"This has prompted the government to map out a five-year capital market development plan. The plan will include the national savings fund setting up, the development of domestic bond market and the development of financial product to enhance its diversity.

"The government will restructure tax system to attract and encourage more investors to the capital market and will come up with measures to deal with possible negative consequences of the fierce competition in the future," the premier said.

The government wants to see the capital market to increase its capitalisation from the current 80 per cent of GDP to 130 per cent within the next five years. The number of investors in the market will also be boosted from 2.4 per cent to 5 per cent, he said.

Mr Abhisit suggested there should be a close collaboration between Thai capital market and other markets in the region in order to attract more foreign investors and to create regional network of the capital market.

Meanwhile, the consumer confidence index (CCI) in October dropped for the first time in five months from 68.4 in September to 68.0, University of Thai Chamber of Commerce's Economic and Business Forecasting Centre director Thanawat Polwichai said.

The job opportunity confidence index for the month was 66.9, while the future income confidence index stood at 91.2, he said.

The centre's survey found that the negative factors hurting the CCI were global oil price hike, political uncertainty, contraction in exports, the decrease in SET index, the industrial investment impasse in Map Ta Phut and higher cost of living.

Positive factors included the better than expected economic projection by the Bank of Thailand as GDP growth rate is projected to shrink by only 2.5-3.5 per cent, the central bank's monetary policy committee unchanged policy rate and the baht appreciation.