Thai Senate approves budget bill (Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/) Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai Senate approved a national budget bill for fiscal year 2021 after a six-hour debate in the Parliament on September 21.
Of the 224 senators present in the upper house, 218 voted in favour, no one voted against and six abstained.
The draft set the budget for the next fiscal year at around 3.285 trillion baht (105 billion USD), up 2.8 percent against that of fiscal year 2020.
Earlier on September 19, the Thai House of Representatives voted to approve the bill, with 269 MPs voting in favour, 60 voting against, and 121 abstentions.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will submit the bill within 20 days for endorsement by the King after which it will be announced in the Royal Gazette. Normally, a fiscal year in Thailand begins on October 1.
The National Economic and Social Development Council announced on August 17 that the country’s GDP dropped by 12.2 percent from a year ago – the biggest decline since the Asian financial crisis in 1998.
The figure, however, is lower than an estimate of a 13 percent contraction in a Bloomberg survey of economists./.
VNA
