Democrats plan 3-pronged attack as budget debate resumes today

Of the total, 66 from the coalition Pheu Thai Party will join in the deliberation, which ends on Friday.
Each MP will get 10 minutes to make a presentation, but the time could be extended, Deputy House Speaker Charoen Chankomol said yesterday. This second round of vetting, continued from the first round in May, will proceed article by article.
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said his comments would be directed in three dimensions – a reflection of poor fiscal discipline through populist policies, budgeting inefficiency that leaves some projects underfunded, and mismanagement along with corruption.
On May 23, the House of Representatives voted 274-1 with 177 abstentions to pass the 2013 budget bill in its first reading after three days of arguments.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said then that the budget assumed economic growth of 5.5-6.5 per cent and inflation at 3.5-4 per cent for 2012 and 4-5 per cent and 3.8 per cent for 2013.
Revenues were estimated to increase 6.3 per cent to Bt2.20 trillion, of which Bt97.9 billion would be allocated to local governments, leaving Bt2.1 trillion for net government revenue.
Expenditures were set at Bt2.4 trillion, of which Bt449.3 billion was for capital expenditures, Bt1.9 trillion for regular expenses and Bt49.14 billion for loan payments, exclusive of interest.
The budget would run a deficit of Bt300 billion, improving from Bt400 billion in fiscal 2012.
Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said in June that the government was determined to balance the budget in a few years.
A recent Bangkok University poll found that 49 per cent thought that the government could run a smaller deficit than Bt300 billion. Almost 41 per cent of the 64 economists from 27 organisations believed that the capital-expenditure budget should be boosted from Bt448.9 billion or 18.7 per cent of expenditures to 23.4 per cent. About 33 per cent felt that the capex budget was appropriate.
Most believed that the government would achieve the revenue target. What worried them the most by far was corruption at 58 per cent, followed by populist-policy financing at 20 per cent and budget-allocation efficiency at 12.5 per cent.
They also urged the government to prioritise projects in line with the economic-development plan, enhance competitiveness through more investment in infrastructure and education, and focus on balancing the budget without borrowing to finance populist policies.
In a recent interview with Krungthep Turakij, Democrat MP Korn Chatikavanij attacked the government for lacking fiscal discipline by supporting several projects through off-budget funding. For example, the rice-pledging scheme is not included in the annual budget, as its cost is shouldered by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. The waiver of the diesel excise tax is also a burden on the State Oil Fund.
“Corruption has emerged as several projects are not screened by Parliament and not executed in a transparent manner. Plus, they are not reviewed by the Budget Bureau, the National Economic and Social Development Board or the House committee on budgeting,” said Korn, who was finance minister in Abhisit’s government.
Fiscal prudence would assure foreign investors of the country’s economic stability, he said. In the past, they had high confidence in the government’s finances thanks to fiscal discipline, with government projects held accountable through inclusion in the normal budgeting process.