PM cites fiscal strength, forex reserves in defence of budget bill

In a debate televised live on Parliament Channel (10), Prayut said his government had to set a deficit budget as part of its policy of fiscal expansion to help revival of the economy.

Prayut said his government has prepared the budget with the goal of improving the people’s quality of life but it also took into account fiscal discipline and national strategies, such as security, competitiveness, development of human resources, creating opportunities in society and creating social equality.

The prime minister told the House of Representatives that the country still has financial strength but the business sector and households are struggling from rising cost of living and manufacturing cost. The struggling economy has prompted the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to retain the policy rate at 0.50 per cent.

Prayut said the country had foreign exchange reserves of US$230 billion, about 3.15 times higher than the country’s foreign debt, which is considered a strong foreign reserves to foreign debt ratio.

The prime minister spoke for about an hour in defence of the budget.