Abhisit calls for spending plans on flood control

“I have no intentions of blocking the government’s work on flood control and will end the court battle should the government spell out planned spendings to justify the decrees,” he said.

The main opposition party is seeking the judicial review by the Constitution Court on grounds that the government did not have neither the justification nor the urgency to issue two decrees – on the Bt1.14 trillion debt transfer to the Bank of Thailand and on the Bt350 billion flood-control loans.

The two decrees are designed to give the government more room for incurring the public debt.

Abhisit said the government did not need additional loans in order to implement flood control measures.

Under the current budget, the government already had the Bt200 billion at its disposal to spend on flood control, he said. Furthermore, the government had the mandate to seek additional Bt150 billion loans without having to issue any decrees, he added.

He urged the government to focus on carry out flood prevention ahead of the rainy season instead of being obesessed with raising the public debt even before having worked out the spending plans.

As Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is scheduled a  trip between February 13 and February 17 to check on flood control, he said he hoped the trip would yield a tangible outcome rather than a publicity to recirculate ideas for mega projects which never get off the drawing board.