Yingluck kicks off 2013 budget bill debate
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra Monday kicked off the 2013 budget bill debate by defending the government's planned spending that most of the budget would be spent for improving social and economic mechanisms and developing the country's infrastructure
The debate started at 10 am with Yingluck spending about 50 minutes reading from a prepared statement.
She said the 2013 budget bill would allocate Bt2.44 trillion for the government spending and it would see a larger deficit compared with the 2012 budget. The deficit would increase by Bt20 billion.
She said the spending was planed on the projections of 5.5 to 6.5 per cent growth and 3.5 to 4.0 per cent inflation. She said the growth in 2013 was expected at 4.0 to 5.0 per cent while inflation was expected at 3.8 per cent.
Based on the projections, the government expected to receive revenue of Bt2.197 trillion in the new budget year, an increase of 6.3 per cent. The revenue would be allocated by Bt 97.9 billion to local governments, leaving Bt2.1 trillion as the net government revenue.
She said most of the budget would be spent for the country’s developments under nine strategies.
The Nation
