Disbursement goal kept for FY 2017
The Comptroller-General’s Department is maintaining its target for investment budget disbursement of 87% for the next fiscal year, though this fiscal year’s disbursement rate is expected to miss the target.
Under the plan, 19% of the fiscal 2017 investment budget is to be taken out in the quarter between October and December, 41% in the six months to March, 63% in the nine months to June and 87% by the end of September 2017, said deputy directorgeneral Oranuch Vainusit.
The government aims for 96% of the overall fiscal 2017 budget to be doled out, she said.
The annual budget for fiscal 2017, pending the National Legislative Assembly’s deliberation, amounts to 2.73 trillion baht, of which 547 billion is for investment. The next fiscal year will run an estimated deficit of 390 billion baht.
The department expects 70% of the fiscal 2016 investment budget to be drawn down, Ms Oranuch said. The current disbursement rate stands at 66%.
As other economic drivers remain tepid, public investment and spending are among the main engines of the economy. The government wants its spending spree to ramp up private investment for sustainable growth.
To speed up fiscal 2017 disbursement, the government has instructed all state agencies with an investment budget to start the auction process in order to sign deals with the bid winners immediately after the fiscal 2017 budget bill comes into force, Ms Oranuch said.
In related news, a committee overseeing public procurement chaired by finance permanent secretary Somchai Sujjapongse approved raising the cap on the price agreement method to 500,000 baht from 100,000 in a bid to speed up budget disbursement.
The cap for the price inquiry method was also raised to a range of over 500,000 baht to 2 million from over 100,000 to 2 million.
Public procurement worth 1-2 million baht, in terms of projects, accounts for 90% of the government’s projects.
For state procurement through e-bidding, these changes should be able to help the government save on its budget, as they would shave off 44 billion baht or 11% from reference prices from Feb 15 last year to Aug 16 this year.