Thailand Aims to Have Slightly Bigger Budget Next Fiscal Year
Bangkok. Thailand's budget for the fiscal year to begin on Oct. 1 will be slightly larger than the current one and have a deficit of the same size, the head of the Budget Bureau said on Wednesday (10/01).
The budget plan - to be submitted to the cabinet next week - projects spending at 3 trillion baht ($93.49 billion), slightly up from this year's 2.9 trillion baht, Dechapiwat Na Songkhla told reporters.
Of the spending, about 70-75 percent will be for current expenditures, at least 20 percent for investment and the remaining for debt repayment, he said.
Dechapiwat also said the planned deficit would be 450 billion baht, the same as planned for the current fiscal year.
He did not give estimates for Thailand's fiscal deficit, as a percentage of gross domestic product, for the current year or the next one.
Dechapiwat also said there would be an extra budget of 150 billion baht for the current year - 100 billion baht for developing the rural economy and the rest for the treasury. He did not elaborate.
The military government has ramped up investment spending to help boost growth in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, which still lags regional peers.
The state planning agency predicts growth 3.6-4.6 percent for 2018.
Reuters
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