The signing of the loan agreements on Friday was in line with an earlier decree that authorised the borrowing, said Pongpanu Svetarundra, the ministry's permanent secretary. It stipulated that the contracts must be signed by June 30.
The government had the legal right to sign loan contracts for its water management projects even though a court has ordered public hearings on the 350-billion-baht programme, says a Finance Ministry official.
Mr Pongpanu signed the contracts to borrow 324.6 billion baht from four banks: the Government Savings Bank, Krung Thai Bank, Bangkok Bank and Kasikornbank.
He said Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong had authorised him on Thursday to sign the contracts.
The Central Administrative Court on Thursday ruled that the water projects require public hearings before any contracts can be signed with companies that have won bids for them.
That ruling had no effect on the loan contract signing, said Mr Pongpanu.
The court had no authority to delay any acquisition of loans as the 350-billion-baht loan decree had empowered the Finance Ministry top borrow the funds, he added.
Mr Pongpanu said he had discussed the matter with the ministry's legal department but did not seek an opinion from the Council of State, the government's legal adviser, because time was running out.