Poll finds 76% of Thais skeptical of govt's loan plans
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Most people doubt transparency in the government's plan to seek Bt2-trillion loans for infrastructure development and do not believe the loan spending would be optimised, an opinion survey has found.
The survey was carried out by Assumption University’s Abac Poll among 2,089 residents of 17 provinces, who are at least 18 years old, The provinces included Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Suphan Buri, Khon Kaen, and Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Punnatee Isarangkul na Ayutthaya, an assistant of Abac Poll, said Sunday that 76.7 per cent of respondents did not think the government could make the most of the Bt2-trillion loans, while 23.3 per cent believed the government would use the loans to fully benefit the country.
She said 81.7 per cent did not believe the loans would be spent with transparency.
The government is enacting a bill to allow the Finance Ministry to borrow Bt2 trillion for developing transportation infrastructure – but 30.3 per cent of the respondents believed the government should use the loans for developing education first, while 21.9 per cent said the money should be used to stimulate the economy. She said 13.6 per cent said the loans should be spent on agricultural development while the rest wanted the money used for other purposes.
