BANGKOK (NNT) – The Budget Bureau notes that the Thai government plans to increase its investment budget by 90 billion baht in fiscal year 2022, in compliance with a law related to state financial and fiscal discipline.
Budget Bureau Director Dechapiwat Na Songkhla said, of the 90 billion baht the government plans to add to the 2022 investment budget, 50-60 billion is from the 500-billion-baht emergency loan. The remainder comes from the 2022 investment budget of state agencies and enterprises.
According to the 2022 fiscal budget bill, which has public spending set at 3.1 trillion baht, accounting for 17.9% of GDP, the government would need to borrow 700 billion baht to offset the deficit.
However, the bill set the investment budget at only 624 billion baht, lower than the deficit of 700 billion. This means the government would have to raise the investment budget to more than 700 billion baht, to comply with the 2018 law governing state financial and fiscal discipline, as the investment budget must not be less than the deficit amount in the state’s annual budget.
