Bangkok: Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on December 26 that the Cabinet has approved the Budget Bill for 2024 fiscal year after many months of delay.
The bill seeks 3.48 trillion THB (about 100 billion USD) in funding for fiscal 2024, which began on October 1. The amount represents a 295 billion THB, or 9.3%, increase on the budget sought for the previous fiscal year, the PM said.
The bill was not passed in time for the start of the fiscal year due to the transition of governments following the May 14 general election.
Of the total amount expected for 2024 fiscal year, 2.53 trillion THB will be spent on the government’s fixed annual expenditure. About 118.36 billion THB, or 3.4%, will go on boosting the treasury’s reserves, while 715.38 billion THB, or 20.5%, will be earmarked as investment funds. The rest will be spent on repaying the government’s loans, Srettha said.
The new borrowing ceiling for loans is proposed at 693 billion THB or 3.63% of the total budget, he said.
In the 2024 fiscal
year, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to be 19.02 trillion THB, Srettha added.
The bill will be read at the Lower House, and after its first reading, the bill will go to a committee for further work and will be deliberated in the Lower House on April 3-4. After that, the bill will be forwarded to the Senate and a vote on April 9-10. If it passes, the Secretariat of the Cabinet will send it for royal endorsement on April 17, he said./.
Source: Vietnam News Agency
