Verdict on two financial decrees due Feb 22
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The Constitution Court has scheduled February 22 to hand down its verdict on the constitutionality of two financial decrees designed to increase the public debt related to flood control.
The high court on Wednesday heard final arguments from the government and the opposition before concluding the hearing on the decrees.
The first decree is for the transfer of Bt1.14 trillion debt incurred by the Financial Institution Development Fund from the Finance Ministry to the Bank of Thailand. The debt transfer will allow the government more fiscal room to borrow for post-flooding infrastructure development.
The second decree is to empower the government to take out Bt350 billion loans in order to finance flood control measures.
Democrat MP Korn Chatikavanij and senator Kamnoon Sitthisamarn testified opposing the decrees. Finance Minister Kittiratt Na Ranong outlined the government’s rebuttals.
Korn argued that the two decrees were unconstitutional because the government had no urgency to justify bypassing the parliamentary scrutiny. The government chose to issue the decrees instead of going through the normal legislative process, he said.
The Nation
