The Comptroller-General's Department has urged all state agencies, state enterprises and provincial governors to accelerate drawing down annual budget after budget disbursement for almost six months of the 2019 fiscal year fell marginally short of target.
Regional and provincial offices of the department will be used to closely monitor disbursement, said director-general Suttirat Rattanachot.
Based on purchasing orders and the government financial management information systems, 1.59 trillion baht or 53.1% of the 2019 fiscal budget expenditure was doled out from Oct 1, 2018 to March 8, 2019. The withdrawn budget was slightly below the target of 54%.
According to a breakdown, 316 billion baht worth of investment budget, representing 49% of this year's investment budget, was taken out, while 1.28 trillion or 54.2% of the regular budget was spent.
The cabinet earlier approved a fiscal 2019 budget expenditure of 3 trillion baht, of which 2.35 trillion is regular budget, 646 billion is investment budget, and the remainder is for debt repayment.
It also requires 45% of investment budget and 57% of regular budget were drawn down at the end of March 2019.
Ms Suttirat said the department has issued a letter requesting all state units to speed up doling out budget.
Regional and provincial offices of the Comptroller-General's Department are also tasked with providing advice and information, and addressing obstacles that could thwart state agencies from achieving the budget disbursement target, said Ms Suttirat.
State budget disbursement can help boost money flows in the economic system, helping the country to achieve its growth potential, she said.
The Fiscal Policy Office forecast economic growth of 4% this year, in line with the Bank of Thailand's projection.
A senior official at the Comptroller-General's Department recently said the department wanted to see the entire annual budget expenditure for fiscal 2019 doled out, citing the amended Budgetary Procedure Act and the department's close monitoring of state agencies' budget disbursement. If the target is achieved, it will be the first time disbursement reaches 100%.
The Act stipulates the budget of any investment project for which contracts are not signed by the end of the fiscal year will be cancelled automatically, prompting state agencies to accelerate investment.
