Ministries allowed bigger budgets as independent agencies have theirs slashed
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The Cabinet has given the green light to most ministries' higher budget proposals for the 2014 fiscal year, but independent agencies have been given a lot less than they requested.
The Cabinet endorsed the Budget Bureau’s decision to allocate Bt480 billion to the Education Ministry, Bt27 billion more than the budget for the current fiscal year, which wraps up at the end of September, according to a source who attended the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
The Interior Ministry got Bt320 billion, Bt20 billion more; the Public Health Ministry got Bt100 billion, Bt6.4 billion more; the PM’s Office got Bt31 billion, up by Bt6.2 billion; the Defence Ministry Bt184 billion, up by Bt4.2 billion; and the Finance Ministry Bt229 billion, up by Bt4.2 billion.
Very few ministries were granted less than what they were given for this fiscal year. These included Ministry of Tourism and Sport, which was given Bt9.3 billion, down by Bt3.5 billion; the Labour Ministry, which will get Bt33 billion, Bt2.9 billion less; and the Social Development and Human Security Ministry, which was allocated Bt10 billion, down by Bt63 million.
However, the Budget Bureau slashed the funding for most independent agencies, with many getting less than half of what they requested.
The Nation
