Thailand’s lower house adopts 2021 budget bill

Thailand’s House of Representatives on September 18 night passed the budget bill worth 3.285 trillion THB (about 105 billion USD) for fiscal year 2021.
Thailand’s lower house adopts 2021 budget bill ảnh 1The House of Representatives passes the bill's final reading with 269 votes in favour, 60 against and 121 abstentions. (Bangkok Post file photo)


Bangkok (VNA) –
Thailand’s House of Representatives on September 18 nightpassed the budget bill worth 3.285 trillion THB (about 105 billion USD) forfiscal year 2021.

After athree-day debate, the bill's final reading passed with 269 votes in favour, 60against and 121 abstentions.

The budget, starting in October, aimed at reviving an economy battered bythe global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

PrimeMinister Prayuth Chan-ocha thanked the House of Representatives andpledged that the governmentwill use the budget to drive the economy and implement urgent policies for the country'ssustainable growth. 

The proposed budget is up 2.8 percent from the current fiscal year. It projectsa deficit of 623 billion THB, up 32.8 percent.

The bill will also needsenate approval, and then the king's endorsement.

Thailand’s economy shrank 12.2 percent year on year in the secondquarter of this year, the biggest reduction since the Asian financial crisis in1998.

The financeministry predicts a record economic contraction of 8.5 percent this year, mainly due toimpacts of COVID-19./.

VNA

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