Bangkok: The 2027 budget will be submitted to Parliament tomorrow. The government reiterated its readiness to explain the direction of spending to address the economic situation and stated that the budget will be open for public scrutiny. Ms. Ratchada Thanadirek, spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office, stated that the Prime Minister attaches great importance to the consideration of the draft budget bill for fiscal year 2027, and has instructed relevant ministers and agencies to prepare complete information and be ready to respond to all questions raised by members of parliament. This is to ensure that the public understands the reasons, necessity, and expected outcomes of the budget allocation in each area.
According to Thai News Agency, the draft Budget Act for fiscal year 2027 sets a budget limit of no more than 3,788,000 million baht, an increase of 7,400 million baht or approximately 0.2 percent from the previous year. This is from the total budget requests submitted by various agencies, which amounted to over 5.97 trillion baht, and have undergone a process of review, screening, and prioritization based on need, urgency, and cost-effectiveness.
The 2027 budget was prepared under fiscal constraints and given the uncertain global economic situation. Therefore, it aims to address both short-term needs for public welfare and long-term investments to enhance the country's competitiveness. Regarding national investment, the government recognizes that relying solely on the national budget is insufficient. Therefore, it has implemented the "Investment Plus" approach, utilizing a combination of tools including state enterprise investment budgets, public-private partnerships (PPP), the Thailand Future Fund, investment promotion through the Board of Investment (BOI), facilitation through the Thailand Fast Pass system, as well as investment from the private sector and local administrative organizations. This aims to ensure that the national budget acts as a catalyst for additional investment.
Although the direct investment budget in the draft budget bill stands at 789,172 million baht, a decrease from the previous year, the government aims to raise approximately 1.568 trillion baht from all aforementioned mechanisms to support economic growth, employment, and future investment.
The spokesperson for the Prime Minister also stated that the 2027 budget allocation covers three key objectives: building national security and resilience, including border security, drug prevention, water management, energy, environment, and responding to new forms of threats; enhancing competitiveness through investment in emerging industries, digital technology, artificial intelligence, clean energy, modern automotive, healthcare, logistics, tourism, and improving government efficiency; and ensuring quality of life and creating equal opportunities in welfare, education, public health, labor skills development, and increasing people's income, with a budget of 42,000 million baht for the state welfare card and 65,904.3 million baht for social security contributions.
Furthermore, the government continues to adhere to fiscal discipline by allocating 462,470.3 million baht for managing public debt and 71,038 million baht for replenishing the treasury, ensuring that fiscal obligations are fully reflected in the budget system, transparently, and are auditable.
Ms. Rachada further stated that the public can follow the details of the draft budget bill for fiscal year 2027, including supporting documents, spending plans, and the performance results of various agencies, through the Budget Bureau's website. This allows them to participate in scrutinizing the national budget spending plan and access information for consideration in an open and transparent manner.