Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha asked all MPs, as he presented the 3.2 trillion baht budget bill for 2020 fiscal year to the House of Representatives this morning (Thursday), not to just look at the budgets allocated to each ministry, but to consider the details of the work and projects to be undertaken by each, so they get an overall picture.

Noting that the 2020 budget is a deficit budget, with expected revenue for the whole year estimated at about 2.74 trillion baht and a shortfall of 469 billion baht, the Prime Minister explained that the budget bill was drawn up anticipating that Thailand’s economic growth rate next year will be between 3% and 4% and inflation kept between 0.8% and 1.8%.

In preparing the budget, he said the government had placed importance on efforts to drive national strategies, its master plans and policies to raise people’s quality of life, narrow the wealth gap, strengthen the domestic economy and improve the country’s competitiveness.

The Prime Minister offered some details about the budgets allocated to each of the six national strategies, which includes 428.2 billion baht, or 13.4% of the total budget for security affairs, 380.8 billion baht, or 11.9% of the total budget for the improvement of the country’s competitiveness, 571 billion baht, or 17.8% of the total budget for the development and promotion of the efficiency of human resources, 765 billion baht, or 23.9% of the total budget for social equality and creation of opportunities, 118.7 billion baht, or 3.7% of the total budget for the improvement of an environmentally friendly quality of life and 504 billion baht, or 15.8% of total budget for the development of management of the government sector.

The government has allocated 431 billion baht for the implementation of 59 work plans, including a 96 billion baht fund to cope with emergency situations and 272 billion baht for the management of public debt.