Thai House passes budget bill for 2021 fiscal year

Thai House of Representatives passes 3.3 trillion THB budget bill for the 2021 fiscal year (Source: Thai PBS)

The bill still has to pass second and third readings in early September. It will also need senate and royal approval.

The proposed budget projects a 3.1 percent rise in spending to 3.3 trillion THB for the 2021 fiscal year starting on October 1, 2020, with a deficit of 623 billion THB, up 32.8 percent from the 2020 fiscal year.

The budget planners have assumed the Thai economy will shrink 5-6 percent this year before growing 4-5 percent in 2021. The central bank has forecast a record economic contraction of 8.1 percent this year./.