Korn attacks Govt's pro-rich approach

 

 

 

In the first day of parliamentary deliberation on the 2013 budget bill, Korn said that the Bt2.4 trillion expenditure is the record high. Meanwhile, as revenue target is set at Bt2.1 trillion, the government will need to borrow Bt300 billion. 

Amid the deficit, the government this year slashes the corporate tax rate from 30 per cent to 23 per cent, which will benefit the business sector but will cost the government about Bt150 billion in tax revenue. Korn sees the possibility that the government would launch unfair tax approaches, to cope with the revenue loss.

He also expressed concerns over off-balance budget, which included the Bt350 billion borrowing to finance water management projects, which remain vague. 

  "The government has over-extended its power. The government is asked to review this approach and regain the sense to assist the general public, so that they can stand on their own feet. For failed projects, ministers responsible for the projects need not to resign but they should have the projects (including the rice-pledging scheme) reviewed," he said.

 

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong acknowledged that the expenditure is the highest in Thailand's history, but it is only Bt20 billion higher than the expenditure in the previous fiscal year. He defended that the government had allocated the budget efficiently to necessary projects and the government has honoured fiscal disciplines. The general public is not required to shoulder the burden, as the tax base remains unchanged though it is within the government's ability to do so, he said.

The corporate tax cut is not to benefit the rich, he insisted, but to enhance the private sector's competitiveness at the time when many countries offer much lower rates than Thailand.