Differences raised on Bt2-tn borrowing bill
Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt and opposition MP Korn Chatikavanij shared divergent opinions on the controversial Bt2.2-trillion bill to invest in high-speed rail, mass transit and other schemes over the next seven years.
In their first debate outside Parliament on this crucial piece of legislation, Chadchart said: "The House has passed this bill in its final reading. The Senate is scheduled to consider it starting on October 7 and has a total of 60 days to vote on the bill.
"We’re ready to explain the government’s position to senators and dispel any doubts they may have. The government is certain the Bt2-trillion bill is not unconstitutional. It’s a new route to achieve the objective of implementing mega-infrastructure projects" instead of relying on the annual expenditure budget.
"We believe this way is more efficient and creates confidence among Thai and foreign investors as far as our country’s long-term investment projects are concerned. They will know exactly what the government will invest in over the next seven years.
"We need this Bt2-trillion bill to ensure that there is money throughout the next seven years, which will be like a part of the government’s budget deficits. If we use the annual budget, future governments might not continue the budget deficits.
"What we’re going to do is huge in terms of the annual budget method," Chadchart said.
In the event of the Constitutional Court ruling against the bill, he added, "the Finance Ministry will have to formulate a contingency plan. However, we’ll need just over Bt120 billion in the first year [so it is still manageable], but in following years we would need up to Bt400 billion per year.
"On the public’s concern that corruption will rise because of the enactment of this Bt2-trillion bill, the PM’s Office is preparing to regulations on public procurement, which will include the private sector’s representatives as observers on these and other government procurement schemes."
Korn said: "If the Senate votes for the bill, the opposition will submit a petition to the Constitutional Court, because the bill is unconstitutional. We’re not opposed to the government’s plan to invest Bt2 trillion in several transport and related projects, but we’re against the source of funds and the way the government drafted the Bt2-trillion bill to circumvent the annual budget bill.
"We’re not sure if it’s absolutely necessary to borrow such a huge amount for these schemes. In fact, there are enough funds in the annual budget to cover these projects over multiple years. Each year, we could have a budget deficit of up to Bt550 billion – more than enough for these projects.
"Now the legal issue is whether loans that will be sought by the government to finance these projects are covered by the budget law. If they are included, the Bt2-trillion bill will likely be unconstitutional.
"Another important point is that if a government can issue a huge spending bill like this one, there will be no need for the annual budget law in the future.
"The public is also widely concerned about an increase in corruption, because it will be difficult to scrutinise details of the projects after this bill is enacted. There are few details. The bill itself has only two and a half pages only outlining the objectives, but there are no details on each of the projects.
"We will not be able to scrutinise these details after this because they are not subject to the stringent budget law, which requires the government to provide a lot of details every year it seeks parliamentary approval on annual spending."
