Thai government approves 2021 budget bill

Spokeswoman of the Thai government Narumon Pinyosinwat (Photo: VNA)

Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai government on June 16 approved a bill for the fiscal 2021 budget of 3.3 trillion THB (about 106 billion USD) which will be submitted to the parliament, said spokeswoman of the government Narumon Pinyosinwat.

She said that the cabinet also agreed to establish a 64-member committee assigned to scrutinise the budget bill.

Of the members, 16 will be appointed by the cabinet while 27 will be members of the parliament and 21 will come from opposition parties, Narumon said.

Under the bill, the central fund in fiscal 2021 budget is set at 614.6 billion THB while expenditure for state agencies is set at 1.13 trillion THB.

The budget starting on October 1 will focus mainly on social and economic restructuring, economic growth stability, income redistribution to remote areas, local economy development, and income disparity reduction.

Thailand’s economy contracted 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020 from a year earlier. Its GDP shrank by 2.2 percent quarter-on-quarter in the period./.