PM orders agencies to speed up budget disbursement

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BANGKOK  – Even though House committees are still scrutinizing the 2020 budget bill, the Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, has instructed heads of government agencies and state enterprises to develop their fiscal 2021 budget plans while ensuring that they are in line with the national strategy and take global economic challenges into consideration.

The Prime Minister chaired a state budget disbursement seminar and delivered a budget planning policy. He said that, once the bill is enforced, it must be disbursed quickly. Fiscal 2021 will run with a budget deficit, but it must not affect fiscal discipline. The government will have to generate more income to compensate for the deficit.

The Prime Minister said global economic challenges, as well as political tensions in the country and abroad, must be taken into consideration. The government has prepared measures to deal with the impact and developed policies to stimulate the domestic economy, including in tourism, the Chim, Shop, Chai (Taste, Shop, Spend) campaign and farmers’ income guarantees.

Gen Prayut said he hoped the Thai economy will grow 3% in the fourth quarter of this year, as the government is supporting infrastructure investment to facilitate economic cooperation and development with other countries.

The Prime Minister instructed government agencies and state enterprises to use the budget planning policy as a guideline for developing their fiscal 2021 budget plans, which will be submitted to the Bureau of the Budget by January 24, 2020. He encouraged them to cooperate and help develop a better understanding with the public.

The budget disbursement seminar was attended by heads of government agencies and state enterprises. It was held to ensure that they will work efficiently and in the same direction.