Thai Senate approves budget bill (Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/) Bangkok (VNA) – The Thai Senate approved a national budget billfor 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 nextfiscal year at around 3.285 trillion baht (105 billion USD), up 2.8 percentagainst that of fiscal year 2020.
Earlier on September 19, the Thai House ofRepresentatives voted to approve the bill, with 269 MPs voting in favour, 60voting against, and 121 abstentions.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha willsubmit the bill within 20 days for endorsement by the King after which it willbe announced in the Royal Gazette. Normally, a fiscal year in Thailand beginson October 1.
The National Economic and SocialDevelopment Council announced on August 17 that the country’s GDP dropped by12.2 percent from a year ago – the biggest decline since the Asian financialcrisis in 1998.
The figure, however, is lower than anestimate of a 13 percent contraction in a Bloomberg survey of economists./.
VNA
