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 related to flood control designed to increase the public debt.
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 in loans 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 parliamentary scrutiny. The government chose to issue the decrees instead of going through the normal legislative process, he said.
Furthermore the two decrees had several flaws, he said, pointing out that the debt transfer was not an urgent issue with dire impact on the economy and that the government had no clear spending plans to justify the second decree.
He also said the government had no genuine intent to implement a debt servicing plan in order to resolve the Bt1.14 trillion loans but was trying to manipulate the accounting for the sake of increasing public debt.
Kamnoon said he saw no urgency for the two decrees, arguing the government had failed the necessary requirements to back up the decrees as prescribed by Article 184 of the Constitution.
In the government’s rebuttals, Kittirat stated how the decrees were critical for flood control and economic security.
He also answered several questions posed by the judges comparing the steps needed in issuing a decree and an act of Parliament.
Before giving his statement, he submitted the government’s spending plans related to the second decree. This happened after the opposition said the government rushed to borrow money before having a firm idea on how to spend it.
