Criticism of govt's spending plan

Lawmakers yesterday lashed out at the government for failing to formulate the 2008 fiscal budget to support the country's move towards a knowledge-based society.

During the first reading of the 2008 Budget Bill by the National Legislative Assembly  (NLA) yesterday, concerns were raised over public spending on national defence, education and poverty eradication.

"Government expenditures are in line with the philosophy of the sufficiency economy," Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said while presenting the bill to the NLA.

In the 2008 fiscal year, starting October, the government is set to spend Bt1.66 trillion, up 6 per cent from the current year, while revenue is projected at Bt1.495 trillion. Faced with sluggishness in private investment and consumption, the government has to run a deficit equivalent to 1.8 per cent of gross domestic product.

About 73 per cent of the expenditure will cover fixed costs, primarily salaries and welfare, while the rest is for public investment.

NLA member Prathumporn Watcharastien said the spending plan did not advance the creation of a knowledge-based society.

She wondered why the budget for the Science and Technology Ministry dropped by 14 per cent while that for the Defence Ministry jumped 24 per cent.

The Defence Ministry gets a big chunk and a quarter of it goes to supporting personnel, but she was worried about human resources development in the military. The ministry in the past did not make use of its personnel resources effectively. For example, many experienced staff did not play any role in the country's security matters or did not contribute their expertise to academic research and development related to national security.

She noted that few top brass participated in international academic forums to exchange views on regional security.

She also complained that the Foreign Ministry was given little to spend on lobbying international organisations, which would weaken the country's bargaining power in international affairs and put Thailand far behind Singapore, Taiwan and Japan.

Wanchai Siritchana charged that though the Education Ministry takes a large share, only 20-25 per cent of it would be channelled to education development.

He said he did not see any details of how the ministry would improve primary and secondary education in science disciplines. He was also worried about the wide gap in quality between schools in big cities and those in rural areas. The government did not pay attention to addressing the shortage of mathematics and science teachers.

He also expressed disappointment over the government's allocation of only Bt4 billion to research and development.

Sungsidh Piriyarangsan voiced concern over the meagre outlay for public investment.

He said the country needs more funds for human resources development, infrastructure construction and environmental protection. Neglecting these areas has undermined the country's competitiveness. The interim government devotes only Bt60 billion to tackling poverty. And what about transparency in the budget to support the poor? What groups would benefit from the budget, he asked.

Prasong Soonsiri and Khamnun Sithismarn attacked the large central budget assigned to the prime minister. They blamed the interim government for not correcting past mistakes committed by deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who has been accused of manipulating the central fund for political popularity.

Borwornsak Uwanno worried about the generous budget for independent organisations, saying they were already bloated.

Personnel overheads will soar next year, as the new draft constitution requires up to six more independent organisations to be set up.

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation