Cabinet to be asked Tuesday to approve budget framework of 3.78tn baht
Fiscal 2026 budget plan includes a 0.7% increase, 860B baht deficit, and projected 2.3-3.3% GDP growth
The Budget Bureau will ask the Cabinet on Tuesday to approve the fiscal 2026 budget framework of 3.78 trillion baht, a well-informed Government House source said on Monday.
According to the source, the framework was agreed upon by four key economic agencies – the Finance Ministry, the Budget Bureau, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council (ONESDC), and the Bank of Thailand – during a meeting on January 3.
The proposed 3.78 trillion baht budget framework represents a 0.7% increase compared to the fiscal 2025 budget.
The four agencies also resolved that the government would borrow 860 billion baht to compensate for the fiscal 2026 budget deficit. This deficit, equivalent to 4.3% of projected GDP, would raise the public debt-to-GDP ratio to 67.3%. Currently, the outstanding public debt stands at 13.461 trillion baht.
The Finance Ministry has projected government revenue for fiscal 2026 at 2.92 trillion baht, marking a 1.2% increase from the previous fiscal year.
ONESDC estimates that GDP for fiscal 2026 will reach 20.08 trillion baht, with economic growth projected at 2.3-3.3%. The inflation rate for 2026 is forecasted to fall within the range of 0.7-1.7%.
If the Cabinet approves the framework, the Budget Bureau will use it to draft the fiscal 2026 budget bill. This process will commence after Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra holds a meeting on January 15 to outline policies for budget formulation, the source added.
