Finance Ministry to ask EC’s permission to draft 2015 budget plan

[Lite Beer]

Finance Ministry to ask EC’s permission to draft 2015 budget plan

BANGKOK, 17 May 2014, (NNT) - Mr. Somchai Sajjapong, Director General of the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) has strongly suggested the Budget Bureau petition the Election Commission to grant permission for the government to draft the budget plan for 2015.

He said that the move would inject a much needed stimulus from the administration into the currently ailing economy. The political uncertainty has hindered the government’s authority to launch new economic policies or fund new investment projects. Director Somchai said that these factors have slowed down public spending and investment by the private sector.

According to the FPO Director General, his office’s legal division has shown that the matter cannot be invoked by the FPO as the Budget Bureau is the agency directly involved with the budget, adding that the bureau should discuss the topic with the Election Commission in order to determine the feasibility of the idea.

The FPO is confident that tensions surrounding the nation’s economic status would ease, if the budget plan could be drafted.

-- NNT 2014-04-17

[winstonc]

yeah dream on with that one sausage..maybe the little piggies are getting hungry..imagine if the ec says no for another 6 months the country would save a fortune..in time to have checks on where it goes..that will upset some thieving scum..

[thesetat2013]

They need to make a new budget for the next fiscal year. The problem is that without a parliament and PM they would violate the constitution by making new debt for the next admin.

The FPO is confident that money will ease tensions in their economy. Money mismanagement is the reason their is no Gov and the tensions created by tbese actions which disrupted the countries political situation. Surely this is not the means to end tension with the economic status. No other country will trust what yhe finance ministry says until it is backed by a functioning Gov

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[chainarong]

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They need to make a new budget for the next fiscal year. The problem is that without a parliament and PM they would violate the constitution by making new debt for the next admin.
The FPO is confident that money will ease tensions in their economy. Money mismanagement is the reason their is no Gov and the tensions created by tbese actions which disrupted the countries political situation. Surely this is not the means to end tension with the economic status. No other country will trust what yhe finance ministry says until it is backed by a functioning Gov

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I think this is the heads of this department requesting , not a PTP spiv , you will need to form some sort of budget , otherwise nothing gets paid, this includes people , the best advise is to carry this years budget forward, for wages and expenses and do a mini budget when things get sorted out.

[Scamper]

Not that Pheu Thai has ever had much respect for the parliamentary system, but one gets the feeling that they have more respect for what it can do. Without it, they can't do anything. And the EC is now going to sanction an entire year's national budget for Pheu Thai without the parliamentary approval that is must have ? In Pheu Thai's fantasies. If anything, this brings pressure on the Senate to resolve the political impasse, because the country cannot go forward much longer without a budget in place.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Scamper

[bigbamboo]

Good idea. It will give the people at the Ministry of Finance something to do. Maybe they could invite TAT's number cruncher along to spice things up a bit now that Kittirat's been given the bum's rush.

As long as they don't ask for any money though.

[khaowong1]

I have always been stumped by the different commissions and government offices in Thailand.. What does the Election Commission have to do with government budgets? I would think that would be up to the parliament. just asking...

[SOTIRIOS]

.....when will 'enough be enough'....???

...with the billions or trillions that have disappeared at their hands......does this make any sense at all......

[FangFerang]

The whole beast is a Wambulance. Wahhh...wahhh

[rreddin]

.....when will 'enough be enough'....???

...with the billions or trillions that have disappeared at their hands......does this make any sense at all......

The alternative is that the country closes down. Countries cannot just close down without causing economic and social chaos. Look at what happened in the USA and multiply that many times.

[Robby nz]

Sounds fair enough.

This is the civil servants of the finance ministry whose job it is to prepare a draft asking if they can put a draft budget together now.

Whoever takes over be it an appointed PM and cabinet of a fully fledged parliament they are going to need a budget for the coming year and it would seem prudent to have a draft ready for scrutiny rather than waiting till some administration was in place then asking for a draft to be prepared.

If I understand correctly this is not asking for money but only to prepare a paper (draft budget) to go before whoever takes over to be debated and probably altered before being put to a vote then passed to the senate for approval before going for royal endorsement.

That the request has to go to the EC is an unfortunate consequence of the present political situation.

[geriatrickid]

yeah dream on with that one sausage..maybe the little piggies are getting hungry..imagine if the ec says no for another 6 months the country would save a fortune..in time to have checks on where it goes..that will upset some thieving scum..

Unless a budget is approved, there will be no emergency aid allowed in the event of national catastrophes such as flooding.

Major repair projects of roads washed out due to flooding cannot be undertaken either.

[geriatrickid]

I have always been stumped by the different commissions and government offices in Thailand.. What does the Election Commission have to do with government budgets? I would think that would be up to the parliament. just asking...

You are correct. The House is responsible for the approval of the budget. However, there is no House as it was dissolved months ago for the election that Suthep blocked/the EC disallowed. In the interim, the EC will not allow any expenditures outside of existing payroll and general maintenance expenditures because the EC believes it could influence voter intentions. This means that all major projects planned years ago and that required budget approval at the next budget are on hold.

[geriatrickid]

.....when will 'enough be enough'....???

...with the billions or trillions that have disappeared at their hands......does this make any sense at all......

Wait until you see the costs including the penalties associated with Thailand's inability to proceed with various previously approved projects.

None of the politicians is talking about it. However, the next government is going to have a financial mess on its hands. Need an example? The tax incentives granted for auto manufacturer expansion and investment had to be included in the fiscal 2014 budget.

[ginjag]

yeah dream on with that one sausage..maybe the little piggies are getting hungry..imagine if the ec says no for another 6 months the country would save a fortune..in time to have checks on where it goes..that will upset some thieving scum..

Unless a budget is approved, there will be no emergency aid allowed in the event of national catastrophes such as flooding.

Major repair projects of roads washed out due to flooding cannot be undertaken either.

So where has the money gone that was allocated for the big flood, have you any accounts to show ?? has the government got any ??? This also will be aired in the courts.

[Robby nz]

Don't know why it hasn't come up as a topic but I see in the news the Audit Office is demanding a proper accounting of all of CAPO expenses, Probably will be ignored or even a threat of prosecution forthcoming from the director of CAPO.

These of course were never allowed for in any budget but I see that they say CAPO has "disbursed" 2.747 billion to Govt agencies.

That doesn't take into account what CAPO have spent on themselves so the total number of 4 billion could be on the light side.

It would seem that money can be got regardless of budget.

Audit Office wants all peace-keeping expenses properly accounted

BANGKOK: -- The National Audit Office has asked acting caretaker prime minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan to instruct the Centre for the Administration of Peace and Order (Capo) to keep all the expenses related to peace-keeping activities properly accounted in compliance with regulations.

In the letter addressed to Mr Niwatthamrong, Ms Prapee Angkeenan, the acting auditor-general, said that initial finding showed that the National Police Office had asked for 1,978 million baht budget from Capo for its peace-keeping operations and the NAO was concerned that the additional budget might duplicate with the NPO’s normal budgetary allocation for peace keeping.

The NPO’s budget sought from Capo comprises 1,444 million baht for the police force deployed to maintain peace mostly in the form of allowances – 700 baht a day for each policeman which includes 300 baht for food; 534 million baht in management expenditure.

The 534 million baht management expenditure includes 59 million baht for field uniforms, 47 million baht for office equipments, 208 million baht for bullet-proof helmets, 18 million baht for digital binoculars and three million baht for CCTV system.

According to the NAO, Capo has disbursed altogether 2,747 million baht to 10 governmental agencies involved in peace keeping during January 22-March 22.

Source: http://englishnews.t...perly-accounted

-- Thai PBS 2014-05-18

[love1012]

Welcome to another election where voters are bullied bribed and beaten until they vote red ..........another election where the second biggest party is not allowed to stand in the north east another election where people turn up only to find they've voted already another election where redshirts don't allow anyone else a chance except their puppet Master another snout in the trough for 5 years another day in Thailand. A joke country with a joke democracy a Joke Government and a Joke man in Dubai running the show!! Good now with the people firmly back under Thaksin the Dictators heel we can look forward to amnesty for all criminals again Poor Thailand shackled to a dictator and half the country dent know it, a quarter benefit from it and the other quarter are bombed into accepting it.