Transport Ministry big winner as House set to pass Budget Bill today
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The House of Representatives is expected today to pass the Bt2.38-trillion Budget Bill for fiscal 2012.
The legislation is scheduled for voting on its second and final readings.
The Transport Ministry is likely to enjoy the biggest budget increase – Bt7.5 billion – among the ministries while the Labour Ministry is set for the largest cut of Bt10.9 billion, according to the final version prepared by the House’s vetting committee.
The Transport Ministry had requested Bt81.3 billion but the vetting panel decided to appropriate Bt88.8 billion for it.
The Tourism and Sports Ministry is likely to be the beneficiary of the second-biggest increase of Bt3.5 billion. It wanted Bt6.7 billion but was given Bt10.2 billion.
The Education Ministry is also set to get more than it asked for – Bt420.4 billion, up Bt1.8 billion from its proposal for Bt418.6 billion.
Among the other favoured ministries are Defence (Bt168.8 billion, up Bt1.4 billion), Interior (Bt285.2 billion, up Bt1.3 billion), and Finance (Bt191.4 billion, up Bt474 million).
The Labour Ministry was chopped from Bt27.2 billion to Bt16.3 billion, followed by the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry, which lost Bt1.2 billion when it was earmarked Bt76.7 billion instead of Bt77.9 billion.
Other ministries suffering from lower budgets than requested are Public Health (Bt91.9 billion, down Bt1 billion), Industry (Bt5.7 billion, down Bt560 million), Justice (Bt17.9 billion, down Bt258 million), and Science and Technology (Bt8 billion, down Bt170 million).
The Prime Minister’s Office was also a victim of the House’s scalpel, since Bt22.1 billion will be coming its way instead of the desired Bt22.4 billion.
