PUBLISHED: 7 Aug 2024 at 05: 47
The secondary bill passed all three observations on Tuesday in the Upper House, with the goal of increasing the president’s digital budget handout plan by 122 billion baht.
The voting saw 139 lawmakers in behalf, 38 against, and 18 nays.
Numerous senators questioned whether the government’s claim that the modern handout system would work in the debate leading up to Tuesday’s vote on the bill was true.
Norasate Prachyakorn, a senator from Bangkok, expressed concern that the government’s plan to support the handout scheme, which requires almost 500 billion baht in funding, will fail to achieve its goal of a 1.8 % increase in gross domestic product ( GDP ) by 2020.
Related sentiments were expressed by Senators Bunchan Nuansai and Premsak Piayura, who claimed the government’s flyer was nothing more than a plot to win the next general election.
Before becoming a senator, Daeng Kongma, who worked as a meat merchant in Amnat Charoen’s new market before becoming a senator, claimed the 10, 000-baht handout do encourage spending and may induce the local economy. Some people find it more difficult to use digital currency, she said.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin defended the 122-billion-baht auxiliary bill, saying the government should wait until the fiscal year 2025 to receive the necessary funding.
Of the more 122 billion ringgit, about 10 billion may come from taxes and additional revenue the government expects to receive, while the rest will come from borrowing, he said.
The state is in serious need of a funds to finance its efforts to stimulate economic growth, the PM said, given Thailand’s slow economic growth, higher household and corporate debt, and a highly volatile world economy.
He declared that the state’s fiscal and monetary discipline regulations would be strictly enforced.