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National security spending up as Bt3.2-trillion spending budget gets Cabinet nod
The Cabinet on Tuesday (September 3) gave the green light for an expenditure budget of Bt3.2 trillion in fiscal 2020, up 6.7 per cent from the previous fiscal year, Government Spokeperson Narumon Pinyosinwat said.
The expenditure budget is divided into seven parts in accordance with the seven national strategies.
1. 13.4 per cent of the expenditure budget, or Bt428 billion, is allocated for national security. The budget for national security in the previous fiscal year was Bt321.78 billion;
2. 11.8 per cent, or Bt380 billion, has been allocated for improving national competitiveness;
3. 17.9 per cent, or Bt570 billion, is allocated for development of human resources;
4. 23.9 per cent, or Bt766 billion, will cater to promotion of social equality;
5. 3.7 per cent, or Bt118 billion, will promote quality of living;
6. 15.8 per cent, or Bt500 billion, is allocated for the improvement of state management;
7. 13.5 per cent, or Bt431 billion, is reserved for unexpected spending in the future such as emergency and debt management.
The budget deficit has risen by 4.2 per cent year on year to Bt469 billion.
The government has set the central budget, a contingency fund, at Bt518 billion.
The Education Ministry gets the highest allocation with Bt368 billion, Interior Ministry gets Bt353 billion, Finance Ministry gets Bt249 billion, Defence Ministry gets Bt233 billion, Energy Ministry gets Bt2.158 billion and Industry Ministry gets Bt5.363 billion.
Of the total central budget, Bt400 billion is for pension payments to retiring officials and medical expenses of the officials, Budget Bureau director-general Dechapiwat na Songkhla said.
The budget under the purview of the prime minister has been retained at Bt100 billion, the same as in the previous fiscal year, he added.: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30375803
The Constitutional Court on Wednesday threw out a complaint about the failure of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his cabinet ministers to recite the complete oath of office.
The court voted unanimously that it had no authority to consider issues between the administrative branch and the monarchy.
The complaint was lodged by Panupong Churak, a Ramkhamhaeng University student, to the Ombudsman on Aug 20. Mr Panupong argued the incomplete oath by the prime minister affected his rights under the constitution. Section 213 provides for a complaint by someone who believes their constitutional rights were violated.
Gen Prayut took the oath before His Majesty the King on July 16. The prime minister failed to complete the oath as he omitted the final sentence during the swearing-in. The opposition will grill him on the issue during a general debate on the issue on Sept 18.
On Aug 27, the King summoned Gen Prayut and all cabinet members to receive a message, in which His Majesty gave them moral support and asked the government to perform its duty as pledged in the oath of allegiance.
The court on Wednesday also threw out a petition by a former member of the dissolved Thai Raksa Chart Party, Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, on the same issue.
PM Prayut donates for flood victims, govt party postponed
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha donated 100,000 baht to help flood victims as the government was set to raise donations to help victims on Tuesday evening and a party planned for members of the ruling coalition was put off indefinitely.
Gen Prayut made the personal donation before attending a cabinet meeting at Government House on Tuesday morning. He said the money would go to the disaster relief fund of the office of the permanent secretary for the Prime Minister's Office.
The donation preceded the government's fund-raising programme on TV channel 9 from 7.30pm on Tuesday to solicit financial aid for flood victims.
Gen Prayut said officials would have to spend the donations carefully while financial aid from the government's budget had yet to undergo regulatory procedures.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said on Tuesday that coalition parties postponed their post-House session party from Thursday indefinitely as ministers and MPs had to help flood victims in provinces.
The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation reported flooding persisted in the four northeastern provinces of Roi Et, Si Sa Ket, Ubon Ratchathani and Yasothon and about 22,400 people were still in shelters.
Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda said flooding damaged had about 3 million rai of farmland, and people in Nakhon Phanom and Sakon Nakhon provinces in the Northeast had also suffered from floods.
Thailand's military plans to acquire 120 American-made armoured vehicles by 2020, with the first batch of 10 arriving next month, a Thai defence ministry source told Reuters on Wednesday.
No details regarding the price, delivery dates or onboard systems were disclosed, though Thai newspaper The Bangkok Post reported that the ship will cost $200.7 million, with construction to last three years. Thai media reports previously said the Chinese design would cost $130 million.
Two appeals launched to raise funds for flood victims in Ubon Ratchathani - one private, one government - have raised 595 million baht in total.
The government raised 263 million baht from its TV channel 9 charity call on Tuesday night, while actor Bin Bunluerit's appeal has received 332 million baht since Saturday.
The government fund-raiser jumped on the coat-tails of Bin's charity initiative to help flood victims in the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani. The actor kick-started the appeal on Saturday with 1 million baht from his own wallet, and called on others to join him.
Bin said while helping victims in Ubon Ratchathani that local people hit by the flood were largely daily wage earners and in need of money, so he was raising cash donations for them.
He also mentioned that the government was giving 1,000 baht each to domestic tourists and so should also give cash to flood victims, who were starving. His supporters were looking to rise from 1,000 to 5,000 baht each for flood victims.
On Monday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said he felt uncomfortable with people's requests for 5,000-baht handouts because the government had regulatory procedures to meet before rolling out financial assistance to flood victims.
Gen Prayut later announced he would make a 100,000 baht donation from his own pocket.
On Tuesday Bin was helping victims in Ubon Ratchathani's Warin Chamrap district. He accepted the government's invitation to join its fund-raising programme on TV in Bangkok in the evening.
He had a brief talk with Gen Prayut at the TV channel and also saw off the prime minister after the programme ended.
Bin said on Wednesday morning that he had no problems with the government, but was sincerely trying to help flood victims and wanted to report the real situation in flooded areas.
There was no plan to combine his group's donations with those the government raised. He promised to use the money transparently to help those in need. He said people had donated 332 million baht in total to his account.
Prayut will also attend the UN Climate Action summit and the Sustainable Development Goal summit. The prime minister will deliver a speech at the SDB summit on behalf of Asean. , and that Asean would cooperate with the US and other nations in implementing development projects.
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