Panel: Budget delay won't hurt spendingThe delay in disbursing next year's budget won't affect the government's investment projects, salaries of state employees and welfare benefits, the spokesman for a House committee vetting the budget for the 2021 fiscal year said on Sunday. Committee spokesman Akkaradej Wongpitakroj said the 3.3-trillion-baht budget -- which was supposed to be disbursed on Oct 1 -- is likely to clear about a week late. However, the Democrat MP said the delay won't affect the government's ability to sustain its investments, before allaying concerns about possible delays in pension payouts, as well as state officials' salaries. When asked about the reason for the delay, Mr Akkaradej said the Budget Bureau took too much time to submit the budget bill to the House of Representatives, which consequently delayed other parliamentary procedures needed to pass the budget. According to the source, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has approved a set of criteria proposed by the Budget Bureau's director, which outlines the use of the remainder of last year's budget.

Source: Bangkok Post September 13, 2020 23:26 UTC