Parliament, Former Permanent Secretary of the Treasury Experts criticize draft budget 67 for not being in accordance with campaign guidelines. Setting a small investment budget does not answer the strategic goal of becoming a developed country. Point out the issue of commercial banks being profitable. There must be a balance between both financial institutions and the people. Mr. Sathit Limpongphan Senator (Senator) and former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Gave an interview before attending the Senate meeting. Regarding the preparation of the draft Budget Act for the fiscal year 2024, the government does not give importance to the campaign policies announced to Parliament. Many policies were not included in the 2024 annual expenditure budget, saying that the government has limited time to do so. It is considered an unreasonable excuse. In principle, the government is responsible for overseeing the budget for the country's development. In the past, I have noticed that the government is very diligent in its work. But I wasn't interested in compiling the budget. 'When looking at the overall picture, it can be seen that In addition to not including important policies in the draft budget. Still not looking at the medium and long term to develop the country. Because Thailand's strategic goal is to make Thailand a developed country. or escape from middle-income countries This means that Thailand must have an economic growth target of at least 5 percent per year in order to be a developed country by 2037, but from the medium-term forecast it is not even 5 percent,' Mr. Sathit. Mr. Sathit said that although the budget expenditures are specified that The budget deficit will continue at 3.4 percent per year until 2027, but we still don't see the significance of those draft budgets. It will grow up to 5 percent per year in order to reach the national strategy of becoming a developed country. Which when looking at the annual budget documents in the investment budget section The government has set the inve stment budget at 20.6 percent of the total budget. It has been said all along that Thailand's potential should be better than this. But the government has not given importance to expanding the investment budget. At least touching at least 25 percent would be good. As for the low investment budget, Mr. Sathit said the government sector will not be able to expand growth. Inviting the private sector to participate in investment is also less motivating. Therefore, there is an opportunity for the economy to be stimulated. Expanding growth is less. Therefore, there must be a larger investment budget. In addition, the budget is mainly related to road infrastructure. which concerns the country's important infrastructure Therefore, a balance of infrastructure must be created. To make the country develop into an economy in the future With the modern economic system To make Thailand keep up with the current world Then you can live in the future. When asked if there was any budget that was especially noteworthy, Mr. Sa thit said that the budget that was noteworthy was the budget for decentralizing power to local areas. Because Thailand, from the beginning, Thailand was Bangkok, but later became 15 provinces. It appears that the 15 provinces of Thailand currently cluster 70 percent of the growth, with only 30 percent remaining. Therefore, growth must be spread to other provinces urgently. Both the central budget and the local government organization budget To push prosperity out to various provinces, which will cause growth to spread to less developed provinces. By having to dismantle large structures To achieve economic growth As for the case where the Bank of Thailand increases interest rates While the Prime Minister stated that the economy is like this But the bank made a profit. Mr. Sathit said it was the Bank of Thailand's duty to give importance to balancing the growth of financial institutions. Receiving fair service for yourself and consumers If consumers receive more fairness Competition among banks will become mor e intense. so that consumers will benefit 'This will intensify the competition among financial institutions. In addition to opening up opportunities for more financial institutions, It is necessary to create various rules to better serve the people. Fair access to more funding sources The topic of criticizing the profits of financial institutions I think it is probably a matter related to fair supervision of financial institutions and consumers,' Mr. Sathit said. Source: Thai News Agency