BANGKOK (Bloomberg): Thailand’s lower house of parliament backed a 3.78 trillion baht ($115 billion) annual budget as Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s multi-party coalition buried differences to support the spending plan.
The budget bill for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 was supported by 322 lawmakers in its first reading in the 500-member House of Representatives on Saturday. A total of 158 lawmakers voted against it following a four-day debate.
The budget proposals will next be sent to a committee for further scrutiny before being returned to the house in August for its second and third readings.
The budget’s passage could help ease concerns over the stability of Paetongtarn’s government after the top two parties in her coalition publicly feuded over some key policy proposals.
The conservative Bhumjaithai Party, the second-largest group in the ruling bloc, has been squabbling with Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai party over issues including a plan to open casinos.
Paetongtarn and Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who heads Bhumjaithai, have denied there are irreconcilable differences.
Thaksin Shinawatra, who is the de facto leader of Pheu Thai and father of the prime minister, has also dismissed fears of a coalition collapse.
The prime minister has defended a marginal increase in spending next year and a budget deficit of 860 billion baht, saying the outlays are designed to factor in increased risks to the economy from the current global trade uncertainties.
The potential hit from a threatened 36% tariff on Thai exports to the US has already prompted the state planning agency to revise down its economic growth forecast this year by a full percentage point.
The central bank, which cut interest rates in back-to-back meetings, has said it has limited room for further easing, leaving the onus of shoring up the economy to fiscal policymakers.
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