The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) has passed in three straight readings a bill seeking the transfer of unused funds in the 2016 fiscal year worth 22 billion baht from various government offices for redistribution to other agencies.
Under the bill approved by the cabinet, the government seeks to reclaim 22.1 billion baht in unused funds from 25 agencies.
Of the total, 21.88 billion baht will be diverted to a central fund and 200 million baht to a revolving fund for farmers.
NLA members also suggested several other worthy recipients, including fishing industry operators hit by the clampdown on illegal fishing. The government said it would consider the suggestions.
In his address to the NLA, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said the bill was proposed to the NLA because state agencies are not allowed to transfer unused funds among themselves. He said several other agencies can make use of these funds.
The government has asked all state agencies to speed up procurement projects by March and have contracts signed by the end of May or those funds will have to be returned to the central fund before the end of the 2016 fiscal year, he said.
Mr Wissanu said the transfer would not affect any projects implemented within a given time-frame.
Several NLA members took turns debating the merit of the bill before voting 158:0 to pass the measure at its first reading with two abstentions.
Some of them also raised concerns the bill could trigger rushed spending by state agencies, resulting in inefficiency. The NLA members suggested the Budget Bureau should consider the spending of state agencies over the past three years [2014-2016] when it proceeds with the 2017 spending plan to ensure proper budget allocation from the beginning.
Some NLA members suggested the unused funds should be made available to priority projects such as the development of a digital society and for compensating those affected by stricter laws against illegal fishing practices.
Budget Bureau director Somsak Chotirattanasiri told the NLA the 22.1 billion baht could be divided up into three portions: an amount of 7.4 billion baht that could be saved after spending; 2.4 billion baht that was left from fixed expenditure; and 12.2 billion baht that could not be disbursed by the deadline.
Concerning the 12.2 billion baht amount, he said the funds could not be disbursed because there were no qualified bidders to implement the projects.
"The cabinet made a resolution in September and December to improve spending efficiency by asking all agencies to spend at least 96% of the allocated funds. The agencies seemed to achieve the target when compared with the previous year," he said.
NLA member Somchai Sawaengkarn proposed the bill should be considered by the full House at the second and third readings. The NLA voted in his favour and proceeded with the second reading. In the third and final reading, the NLA voted 155:0 to pass the bill.
Mr Wissani thanked the NLA members for their support and promised to convey their suggestions to the government for use in bolstering the efficiency of budget allocations.
