Thai Parliament passes US$93bil budget

Economic impact: A man asleep in a ‘tuk-tuk’ at a parking lot in Bangkok. Thailand’s central bank governor has called for an additional one trillion baht (RM127bil) in government spending to counter the blow to the economy from the pandemic. — AFP

BANGKOK: Thailand’s parliament approved the nation’s annual budget that seeks to ramp up spending on tackling the Covid-19 outbreak while slashing outlays for defence and education with the government revenue coming under pressure from a worsening growth outlook.

The 3.1 trillion baht (US$93bil or RM394bil) spending plan for the fiscal year starting Oct 1 received the backing of 257 lawmakers. A total of 189 voted against it and four abstained after a four-day debate, according to the results of a parliamentary voting yesterday.