Govt confident Parliament will pass budget bill but opposition says it fails to tackle challenging

By The Nation

 

Thanathorn

 

Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha will today table the budget bill for fiscal year 2020 before the House of Representatives.

 

Prayut (left), Thanathorn (right)

 

The bill was delayed due to the general elections in March and the time it took to form the coalition government. Usually, the annual budget bill is passed by Parliament around August and implemented in October.

 

The government plans to spend Bt3.2 trillion in the current fiscal, up 6.7 per cent over fiscal 2019 which ended on September 30. The new spending outlays are equivalent to 18 per cent of gross domestic product.

 

Capital spending has been set at Bt655.8 billion, accounting for 20.5 per cent of total budget, which is also not much compared with the larger share of current spending such as salaries of state officials that are set at Bt2.39 trillion, up 5.3 per cent. The current spending has put high pressure on overall spending, as it accounts for 75.8 per cent of total budget.

 

The budget is based on the assumption of economic growth at between 3 to 4 per cent, higher than the 2.7 to 3.2 per cent forecast for this year. The government continues to run up a budget deficit as in past years. This fiscal the deficit is set at Bt469 billion, or 2.6 per cent of GDP, as the government wants to stimulate the economy amid a contraction in exports.

 

Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana on Wednesday expressed his confidence that lawmakers would approve the bill despite the coalition government having only a slim majority in the lower house. The house will spend three days in the first reading of the budget bill.

 

MPs from the opposition camp over the past few days have raised objections to the government’s "high" spending plans on national security and arms purchases.

 

The government plans to spend Bt428.2 billion on national security, which amounts to 13.4 per cent of total budget. Spending on strategy for creating opportunity and social equality has been set at Bt765.2 billion, or 23.9 per cent of total budget, the largest share.

 

The government is seen as giving priority to reduce the huge income gap in the country. Thailand is among the most unequal societies in the world with a huge gap in the incomes and wealth of the rich and the poor, according to recent reports.

 

Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has blamed the way the government allocates funds without answering questions on the huge income gap, looking at the quality of living of people in rural areas, and labourers who are under increasing pressure of being laid off by their employers. He also said the government was spending too little to address natural disasters caused by flooding and drought.

 

Thanathorn criticised the centralised budgeting system as making government spending less effective. He called for fiscal decentralisation, which would allow people to have a greater say in tax spending.

 

Government investments in mega-projects needed to be reviewed to ensure wider benefits for groups of people rather than being beneficial to a few big capitalists, he said. He also called for the implementation of the universal social welfare system instead of social welfare for targeted groups as implemented by the government.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30377462

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-10-17

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13 minutes ago, webfact said:

Government investments in mega-projects needed to be reviewed to ensure wider benefits for groups of people rather than being beneficial to a few big capitalists,

The few big capitalists practically run the country, so other people do not really matter.

Their idea is to make an even bigger wealth inequality by making the rich richer, like it, or lump it !

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Govt confident Parliament will pass budget bill but opposition says it fails to tackle challenging

Yes, challenging definitely needs to be tackled! ????

How about headline challenged?

14 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

How about headline challenged?

Premium journalism again.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

salaries of state officials that are set at Bt2.39 trillion

mabey its time to do some swamp drainage...Thailand has 77 provinces , all with an over abundance of cival servants ...do the math...

Edited October 16, 20196 yr by mok199

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has blamed the way the government allocates funds without answering questions on the huge income gap,

Because it's building the gap !

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The bill was delayed due to the general elections in March and the time it took to form the coalition government.

Let's be honest.

It's not the election that delayed the budget.

It was the junta.

 

The junta could have held the election as early as 2015, thence each year delayed until finalizing a February 2019 election date. Only then to be delayed again by the junta that reset the election date to March 2019, followed by a junta-appointed Election Commission that entertained numerous challenges of elected MP's AFTER the election, some of which required Constitutional Court decisions.

 

Yes, forming a new government from a coalition delayed formation of the Cabinet. But it was the junta-written constitution that designed a fractured House resulting from numerous small to medium sized political parties and from a junta strategy to extend pro-military influence into such parties.

Forming a new government was also delayed as a result of a junta-appointed Senate being involved in the election of the PM because of the political fracture in the House MP's.

 

The electorate is not to be blamed. It never controlled the government.

 

 

45 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

The electorate is not to be blamed. It never controlled the government.

You've been paying attention too..