The House of Representatives approved the contingency fund under the 2023 Budget in its second reading after five-hour-long deliberation.
The 590.47-billion-baht contingency fund budget was under Section 6 of the 2023 Budget Bill. The contingency fund budget consisted of 12 expenditure plans.
The budget bill scrutiny committee of the House and opposition representatives from Pheu Thai and Move Forward parties demanded reduction in the fund which they said unnecessarily included payments for government officials. They also said that it was difficult to check the spending of the contingency fund.
Before the vote, Varathep Ratanakorn, vice chairman of the scrutiny committee, said the contingency fund budget included payments for the medical treatment and pensions of government officials because the government could not estimate the number of recipients yet.
The fund also included assistance for disaster victims, he said.
The House approved Section 6 on the contingency fund with 229 votes in favor, 100 against, three abstentions and one no-vote. (TNA)
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