Jurin dubs Srettha ‘pink sock borrower’ over proposed deficit budget bill

On the first of the two days set aside for the budget bill debate, Jurin accused the Pheu Thai Party of wasting time on political manoeuvring and “double-crossing” its former ally Move Forward instead of setting up a government. Plus, he said, the government wasted more time revising and editing a budget bill prepared by the previous government.

“The administration wasted several months double-crossing a friend before the Cabinet could approve this budget bill,” Jurin said. “Since this budget bill will take effect in May, the government will only have five months instead of 12 to spend the funds allocated. This means it will only work 40%, so I’ll call it a lame duck.”

The Democrat added that he doubted if this budget would be used effectively to revive the economy within the five short months.

Weaknesses of the bill

Jurin also listed four main drawbacks in the budget bill.

Firstly, he accused the Srettha Thavisin government of shifting from a balanced budget to a deficit budget. Its proposed expenditures are 3.48 trillion baht against projected revenues of 2.78 trillion baht, which would result in a deficit of 630 billion baht, he said.

Secondly, he expressed concerns about fixed expenditures rising by 130 billion baht compared to a minimal 23 billion baht or 10% increase in the investment budget. The investment budget is crucial to economic discovery, he said.

Thirdly, Jurin pointed to Pheu Thai once attacking the previous government for allocating huge sums for the central emergency fund, yet this government has allocated even more.

He said the emergency budget set by the last government was 93 billion baht, but this government allocated 5 billion more at 98 billion baht.

Lastly, he drew attention to Pheu Thai labelling then-PM General Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government as the “borrower of the Chao Phraya Basin”.

He said the Srettha government was worse, because it planned to borrow 693 billion baht, compared to the previous government’s 593 billion baht.

“So, I would like to call the prime minister the ‘pink-sock borrower’,” Jurin said, referring to Srettha’s penchant for pink socks.

Jurin also noted that the planned borrowing included an additional 500 billion baht to fund the government’s digital wallet scheme.

He also questioned the feasibility of the government repaying the 500 billion baht loan in three years, as the 2024 budget did not allocate funds for the digital wallet scheme.

He said the government would have to service other public debts, so it would not have the funds to repay everything in time. He also cautioned that the digital wallet scheme may be aborted if the Council of State ruled against it.

Furthermore, he said, the budget bill failed to allocate funds for implementing government policies, such as charter amendments and the 20-baht fare for electric trains.

While expressing support for the 14 billion baht allocated to the Corrections Department, he asked whether all inmates would be treated like former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The self-exiled politician was not jailed for a single night after he returned to Thailand, he pointed out.

Wrapping up his speech, Jurin urged Srettha to ensure transparency in budget spending, hinting at a potential future censure debate.

Protests from Pheu Thai MPs were cut short by House Speaker Wan Muhammad Noor Matha, who emphasised the need to continue the debate.