Government survives key test with B3.3tn budget votePrime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha attends the draft budget bill debate in Parliament on Thursday. (Photo by Chanat Katanyu)The coalition government survived a key challenge on Friday when Parliament passed the first reading of a 3.3 trillion baht budget bill for the 2021 fiscal year, aimed at reviving an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic. A defeat would have forced Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's 20-party government to either resign or dissolve Parliament. The proposed budget projects a 3.1% rise in spending to 3.3 trillion baht for the fiscal year starting on Oct 1. The budget planners have assumed Southeast Asia's second-largest economy will shrink 5%-6% this year before growing 4-5% in 2021.

Source: Bangkok Post July 03, 2020 22:18 UTC