Cabinet endorses Bt300bn budget deficit

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the preliminary budget deficit of Bt300 billion for the 2013 fiscal year, when the government projects revenue of Bt2.1 trillion against expenditure of Bt2.4 trillion.

Thitima Chaisang, acting government spokesperson, said after the resolution that the expenditure accounts for 19.1 per cent of gross domestic product. The amount increased by Bt55.2 billion or 0.8 per cent from the previous year.

Meanwhile, the revenue at Bt2.1 trillion went up by Bt120 billion or 0.6.1 per cent from the previous year.

The budget deficit of Bt300 billion shows a 25 per cent decrease from Bt400 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Fixed expenditure will rise by 2.4 per cent to Bt1.88 billion, which represents 78.5 per cent of total budget. The investment budget of Bt467 billion or 19 per cent of total showed an increase by Bt28.44 billion or 6.5 per cent from the previous year.

In the year, Bt48.64 billion or 2 per cent of budget is set for debt repayment. The amount increased by Bt1.78 billion or 3.8 per cent from the previous year.

The 2013 budget is set on expectation that the Constitution Court would rule in favour of the government’s executive decree on Financial Institutions Development Fund’s debt handling. As the burden is transferred out of the government’s account, the government needs not to allocate a budget to address the principal and interest payments. In 2012 fiscal year, Bt68.43 billion was set aside for such purpose.

According to Thitima, the budget was set accordingly to the assumption that the economy would expand 8.4 per cent in 2013. The country’s GDP in the year would rise by Bt971 billion to Bt12.54 trillion.