Thailand
Thailand: 74.2% of budget for fiscal 2017 dished out
State agencies doled out 74.2% of the budget for fiscal 2017 during the nine months to June, adding to signs that the disbursement target of 87% of the 2.73-trillion-baht budget will be achieved.
Between October and June, 2.03 trillion baht was taken out, said Oranuch Vainusit, a spokeswoman for the Comptroller-General’s Department.
Of the total, 1.76 trillion baht was from the regular budget and 271 billion was from the investment budget.
Ms Oranuch said that 80.4% of the 2.18 trillion baht regular budget was disbursed, and 58.3% of the 464-billion investment budget was doled out — 4.7% below target.
The government has pushed investment spending to drive economic growth amid an uneven recovery and to trigger crowding-in private investment, which is crucial to sustain economic growth in the long run.
For the midyear budget, 50.9 billion baht was drawn down, representing 26.8% of the 190-billion-baht supplementary budget, said Ms Oranuch.
Of the total, 47.9 billion baht or 45.5% of the 105 billion for regular expenses was taken out, and 3.05 billion — 3.6% of the 84.7 billion investment budget — was disbursed.
The Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Policy Office has set a conservative target of 50-60% of the supplementary budget to be drawn down by the end of fiscal 2017.
After deducting compensation for treasury reserves, 160 billion baht remains from the 190-billion midyear budget, which was earmarked to spur the rural economy through provincial clusters and Village Funds, as well as broaden the country’s economic recovery.
Regarding the 276-billion-baht carry-over budget, Ms Oranuch said that 180 billion or 65.2% was dispersed.
She said 46.6 billion baht, accounting for 88.1% of the 52.9-billion-baht budget allocated for investment in small-scale projects (capped at 5 million each) to boost the local economy, was drawn down.
Some 27 billion baht out of the 31.2 billion budget for small-scale projects (capped at 2 million each) for fiscal 2017 was also taken out, she said.
The Comptroller-General’s Department will accelerate government agencies’ budget disbursement for the remaining three months of this fiscal year, projecting that the full-year disbursement target will be reachable, said Ms Oranuch.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/finance/1285335/74-2-of-budget-for-fiscal-2017-dished-out