'Loopholes in decrees'

The government's four executive decrees contain too many loopholes, Anurak Niyamaveja, chairman of the Senate panel on Political Development and People's Participation, said yesterday.

The panel earlier considered a framework for managing funds for the decrees. It summoned senior finance and bank officials to get information, Anurak said.

On the decree relating to loans for water management, the committee wanted to know how the government would help victims of flooding in the South, as the decree did not provide for this group. It also questioned whether the Bt50 billion budget for the decree on disaster insurance would be enough.

The government might be able to borrow the Bt350 billion required for water-management projects as allowed under the law. But it might not be possible to implement related projects requiring Environmental Impact Assessments by the deadline of June 30 next year. And while the four decrees had taken effect, the Finance Ministry could not spend the money as the Cabinet had yet to propose a spending framework to Parliament.