The House of Representatives has approved an emergency decree authorising the Finance Ministry to borrow up to 400 billion baht to address the impact of the energy crisis and support the country’s energy transition.
The measure was approved by 285 votes to 141, with 52 MPs abstaining. The decree, proposed by the cabinet, was debated for about 12 hours before the vote at 8.28pm on Wednesday.
The measure authorises borrowing to tackle the effects of the energy crisis and facilitate the country’s transition to cleaner energy.
During the debate, People’s Party deputy leader and list MP Sirikanya Tansakul criticised the decree, despite the Constitutional Court having ruled by a majority that it did not violate Section 172 of the constitution.
She said the ruling had established a potentially harmful precedent by adopting a broad interpretation of “economic security”, which could allow future governments to invoke emergencies to borrow money for general policy programmes.
She also warned that borrowing the full 400 billion baht could impose an interest burden of at least 10 billion baht a year, while raising public debt to 69.4% of GDP, based on assumptions of 2.5% economic growth and 2.2% inflation. If either assumption fell short, she said, public debt could exceed the 70% ceiling.
Ms Sirikanya said her party did not oppose measures to help people affected by the crisis, but criticised the proposed “Thais Help Thais Plus” co-payment scheme, which requires people to contribute alongside the government.
She also questioned the lack of clear plans for the remaining 200 billion baht and alleged irregularities involving proposed solar-related projects and possible “kickbacks”.
She called on the National Anti-Corruption Commission to scrutinise the spending before all the funds were approved.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul defended the decree, saying the government’s intention was honest, transparent and focused solely on the country and its people.
He acknowledged that the funds were borrowed money, not budgetary funds, and therefore carried a cost. However, he said the government had assessed that the benefits of the programmes would outweigh the borrowing costs, noting that the applicable interest rate was 1.2%.