By Thai Newsroom Reporters
A MOVE FORWARD MP today (May 7) raised concern over the Pheu Thai-led government’s reported plan to partly finance the digital wallet project with the Central Fund for next fiscal year which could probably jeopardise their treasury and financial discipline.
Move Forward MP Nattapong Ruangpanyawut said the Central Fund is primarily not supposed to contribute to the planned funding of the contentious, populist handout campaign estimated to cost a total of 500 billion baht whilst public investment projects are legally bound to amount to a minimum of 20% of the government’s total budget.
Given the government’s planned expenditure of the Central Fund amounting to as much as 152.7 billion baht to partly finance the digital wallet project, the government would almost certainly not have enough funding left for investment schemes for next fiscal year during which the government’s budget will total 3.6 trillion baht, according to the Move Forward MP.
The planned 500 billion baht fund for the Pheu Thai-initiated populist handout campaign will reportedly come from three sources including a sum of 175 billion baht and a sum of 152.7 billion baht from the government’s budget for the current fiscal year and next fiscal year respectively plus a sum of 172.3 billion baht to be “borrowed” from the Bank for Agriculture & Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).
A bone of contention would likely involve the unprecedented use of BAAC’s “borrowed” money to finance the 10,000-baht, digital wallet project as strongly opposed by Bank of Thailand Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput, Move Forward lawmakers and other government critics.
In addition, the planned spending of such a sizable amount of the Central Fund for the digital wallet project would significantly drain the government’s financial resources, otherwise earmarked for emergency, necessity-based expenditure, and break the law on state treasury and financial discipline, according to critics of the populist handout campaign.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin today expressed his consent to newly-named Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira having offered to talk to the central bank governor to hammer out a shared agreement on the digital wallet project.
Sethaput has earlier suggested the total number of people eligible to the 10,000-baht digital wallet project be reduced from as many as 50 millions and that only those currently categorised as state welfare cardholders and “fragile” groups of people be entitled to it.
The prime minister at whose disposal the Central Fund lays has earlier downplayed criticism that he might possibly depose the central bank governor for standing in the way of the Pheu Thai-initiated populist campaign, the implementation of which is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
CAPTIONS:
Representative images of 10,000 baht digital wallet project. Top photo: Thai Rath, Front Page photo: Sanook.com
Move Forward MP Nattapong Ruangpanyawut. Photo: Thai Rath
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