Move Forward party-list MP Sirikanya Tansakul has questioned the government’s budgeting for the 2024 fiscal year, saying that it does not reflect the government’s claim that Thailand is facing several crises.
She also accused the government of cheating in the calculation of GDP, claiming that it will be able to achieve 5% growth in the first year of its term in office by including the inflation rate in the calculation, adding that no country has ever tried this method of calculation before.
She also noted that no money is allocated in the budget bill for several government projects which require funding, citing as one example the controversial “digital wallet” scheme, which requires about 500 billion baht in funding, to be secured through public borrowing by virtue of a loan bill.
During the debate on the government’s budget bill for 2024, Sirikanya singled out several shortcomings, saying that such mistakes are inexcusable, but indicative of the government’s lack of professionalism.
“Is this the government which is reputed to be good at economic management?” she asked.
The Move Forward party-list MP said that, normally, when there is a crisis in any given year, the government would prepare a deficit budget, so it could secure loans to meet the shortfall.
For this year, she said the government plans to secure loans, amounting to 3.6% of GDP, to compensate for the budgetary deficit. She added, though, that she is baffled by the government’s mid-term fiscal plan, estimating the budget deficit for the next three years at 3.4% annually, making her wonder whether Thailand will be in the same crisis for the next three years.
Another questionable budget allocation she noted is the 7.7 billion baht earmarked for road construction, ostensibly to promote tourism. While admitting that road construction is necessary, she said that such construction alone will not encourage tourists to spend more.
If the country is actually in a crisis, as claimed by the government, she said that, normally, the defence budget would have to be sacrificed, citing the year when Thailand was struck by the “Tom Yum Gung” financial crisis, when the defence budget was slashed by about 21%, “but, this year, defence budget is increased by two percent,” she noted.
She said that she does not want to blame the government for not preparing a proper budget which corresponds with the economic situation, noting that the real problem lies with the structural setup, which needs to be rectified.
Regarding the projects which are not allocated sufficient budget for their implementation, Sirikanya said that, ultimately, the government will have to rely on the Central Fund to fund the projects.
Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat said he was disappointed by Sirikanya’s accusation that the government had cheated in the calculation of GDP.
He insisted that inflation and the foreign exchange rate are included in the calculation of GDP.
