Politics May Delay Govt Budget 07 Plan

[Jai Dee]

Politics may delay Govt budget 07 plan

Caretaker Deputy Finance Minister Varathep Ratanakorn Friday said political uncertainty may delay parliament consideration of the government budget 2007 plan.

The ministry can deal with delay of about 3 months, but not more than 6 months, Varathep said.

The draft budget for 2007 was set at Bt1.476 trillion, compared to Bt1.36 trillion in 2006.

The 2007 budget is subject to revision and approval by the Parliament.

Normally, parliament debates the budget in July, or August, after which it is approved.

However, it is unlikely that the parliament could convene soon enough this year.

Source: The Nation - 19 May 2006

[Jai Dee]

Assistant minister of commerce believes expediting the 2007 budget to Parliament will not cause any problems

The Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Varathep Ratanakorn, believes that if all concerned government agencies work together to expedite the completion of the 2007 budget for the Parliamentary approval, there should be no budgetary concerns for next year.

Mr. Varathep stated that the 2007 budget settings would be affected by the new re-election dates and the absence of a Parliament. He said that whether the budget would be delayed for six months or not would be determined by the length of time used to consider the budgetary proposal. If all involved parties cooperated and worked intensively, then the budget should reach the Parliament on time.

The Deputy Minister of Finance added that the processing of the 2006 budget for the remaining portion of the year should not pose any problem, as many of the budget's spending and distribution targets have already been met.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 19 May 2006

[PeaceBlondie]

This sort of thing happens in the USA every year, without Congress being absent. Well, absent in diligence and courage. I can't remember a time since 1976 when the federal govt. entered its new fiscal year with a current budget. In session, they just keep extending the terms of the last year's budget, which works.

In Thailand, however, would parliament have had the foresight to implement a law stating that if they're unable to get a new budget by the beginning of the fiscal year, agencies are AUTHORIZED to continue spending? That's roughly equal to admitting they will lose face.

The problem in some countries and agencies is that the officials are not authorized to spend one cent or one satang that hasn't been authorized. As a federal employee, I actually got sent home once - I think it was 1984, for a day or two - because they couldn't pay me. Later, they paid us, after all.