(Bloomberg) — Thailand’s parliament may convene a special session in the next two months to discuss a host of finance bills including the budget for next fiscal year as Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin looks to accelerate public spending to shore up Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.
The House of Representatives, which will go into a recess on Wednesday, will likely meet in May or June after the cabinet approves the budget bill later this month, according to House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha. The parliament was originally scheduled to be reconvened only in July.
The lower house will likely vote on the budget in a first of three readings and set up a vetting committee during the extra sittings, Wan Noor said. Thirty-nine other finance-related bills that are pending Srettha’s approval could also be submitted to parliament during the special session, he said.
Srettha, who also doubles as finance minister, is fasttracking the budget approval for the year starting Oct. 1 after a monthslong delay in approving the $96 billion spending plan for the current fiscal year hurt the economy. Last week, the cabinet approved a plan to widen the budget deficit target for next year by about $4.2 billion.
The cabinet is set to review a revised spending plan for next year that will see the budget deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product rising to 4.42% from 3.56% projected earlier. The government has slashed the growth estimate for 2024 calendar year to 2.7% from 3.2% earlier.
The move to widen the deficit followed Srettha’s order to weigh various options to fund his government’s 500-billion-baht cash handout plan, which has been delayed by several months over differences on how it will be funded. The original proposal to finance it through a one-time borrowing faced resistance from some state agencies and lawmakers who said that the payout may fan inflation and swell the fiscal gap.
The distribution of the so-called digital wallet scheme is being targeted for the fourth quarter of this calendar year. The handout seeks to provide 10,000 baht each to 50 million adult Thais through a digital app that can be spent on a range of goods and services within a specific time-frame in a designated area.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
The post Thailand Plans Special Parliament Session to Quicken 2025 Budget appeared first on Bloomberg.
