Democrat Party reiterates stance against additional budget of 2014, citing 3 reasons for opposition

Politics

Parliament, Democrats voted not to accept the principle of the draft additional budget bill 67, citing 3 reasons, indicating that it violates the principles that were campaigned on, lacks clarity on digital wallets, and risks being illegal, 'borrowing money to give away' Mr. Romtham Khamnuarak, Member of Parliament for Phatthalung Province and Deputy Spokesperson of the Democrat Party, spoke about the Democrat Party's position in considering the draft of the Additional Budget Act for Fiscal Year 2024, saying that the party supports economic stimulus policies to solve the problems of the people, but the Democrat Party disagrees with 3 issues: the additional budget of 122 billion baht is a 112 billion baht loan, which goes against the principle of the people, as the Prime Minister campaigned that he would not borrow, but in the end it was a loan, and it was a loan that almost reached the ceiling, which created a public debt burden and was a burden on the people. Meanwhile, this additional budget request does not provide clarity on the overall picture of the digital wallet project, including the source of the money, conditions, criteria for distributing it, and the value of the project, as the Prime Minister announced in detail on July 24. This means that the money requested for approval today is a request for money amidst the uncertainty of other sources of money and the entire project. Finally, the principle of borrowing money to distribute has a risk of violating the law and fiscal discipline. The party is ready to support projects that are beneficial to the people, but does not agree with borrowing money. It hopes that the government will review the budget so that it does not borrow money, which does not violate the principles given to the people. The project should be clear about the source of the money, conditions, criteria, and not risk violating the law. Source: Thai News Agency