A 150-billion-baht mid-year budget bill sailed through three readings in the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) yesterday, with a focus on boosting the grassroots economy.
Speaking before lawmakers at the parliament building yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said the bill was meant to strengthen the country's grassroots economic sentiment to ensure people can rely on themselves, and restructure the farm production system as a whole.
Mr Somkid said 24.3 billion baht would be used to finance agricultural production restructuring and productivity improvement to ensure farm products respond to market demand and help decrease production costs. This is part of the country's strategy to enhance national competitiveness.
He said 76 billion baht will be used to drive grassroots economic sentiment, create jobs and boost employment. The sum would also be used to ensure an improvement in people's quality of life and generate revenue for low-income people, he said. This is part of the national strategy to tackle poverty and reduce social inequality.
Another 49.7 billion baht, Mr Somkid said, will be used to offset the treasury reserve, which was earlier drawn out for other expenses.
According to the deputy premier, the Thai economy is forecast to grow 3.6-4.6% this year, compared with a 3.9% rise last year.
Under the bill, 31.8 billion baht will be allocated to the Interior Ministry, 22.7 billion baht to the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, 2.1 billion baht to the Labour Ministry, 498 million baht to the Industry Ministry, 258 million baht to the Commerce Ministry, 106 million baht to the Tourism and Sports Ministry, 72 million baht to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, 68 million baht to the Culture Ministry and 5.3 million baht to the Finance Ministry.
In addition, 4.6 billion baht is set aside for the Central Budget, 3.9 billion baht for state enterprises, while 34 billion baht is for funds and working capital.
Most lawmakers spoke favourably about the bill, which they said would be directly beneficial to local villagers and help strengthen grassroots economic sentiment. These legislators included Wallop Tangkananurak, Kittisak Ratanawaraha, Sanit Aksornkaew, Niphon Narapitakkul, Withaya Chaisuwan and Pol Lt Col Phongchai Warachit.
However, they asked the government to ensure the disbursement of the budget was transparent and directly targeted locals.
NLA member Wittaya Chaisuwan called on the government to adjust ways to help local residents. The government should hand out 10,000 baht each since people are struggling to make ends meet due to economic woes, the lawmaker said.