Opposition sees fiscal risk in borrowing plan

People’s Party deputy leader says B200bn energy transition proposal too vague

PUBLISHED : 7 May 2026 at 16:51

WRITER: Online Reporters

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People’s Party deputy leader Sirikanya Tansakun has criticised the government’s 400-billion-baht emergency borrowing proposal, warning that it risks depleting the country’s fiscal capacity.

Ms Sirikanya questioned the need for an emergency decree authorising the Ministry of Finance to borrow the funds during a debate in the House of Representatives on Thursday.

She noted that the draft decree contained only 11 sections and divided the 400-billion-baht borrowing plan into two parts.

The first 200 billion baht is earmarked for public relief measures. Of this, the government plans to allocate 120 billion baht to a new 60:40 “Khon La Khrueng Plus” co-payment scheme targeting 30 million people, while 52.8 billion would be used to top up state welfare cards. A total of 172.8 billion baht would be disbursed within the first four months.

The remaining 200 billion baht would be devoted to funding various initiatives to help Thailand move away from fossil fuels and towards more green energy. However, Ms Sirikanya said details were scarce, making the “emergency” nature of the proposal hard to justify.

She questioned the effectiveness of the co-payment scheme’s targeting, noting that registration on a first-come, first-served basis may fail to reach those genuinely in need.

She also warned that if the Middle East war continued beyond four months, keeping energy costs elevated, the government could run out of funds for further relief measures.

### Constitutional questions

Turning to the energy portion of the decree, she pointed to a lack of detailed project plans, saying the measure resembled blanket budget approval for later allocation by a committee. Such an approach, she argued, could be inconsistent with Section 172 of the Constitution.

The Democrat Party said on Wednesday that it intended to ask the Constitutional Court to rule on the validity of the emergency decree, and the People’s Party is also considering a court challenge.

Ms Sirikanya proposed that the government separate the public relief measures into an emergency decree while submitting the energy transition plan through the normal legislative process as part of the 2027 fiscal budget bill.

She also called on the government to clarify its debt repayment plans to avoid creating a long-term fiscal burden similar to the previous administration’s 1.5-trillion-baht off-budget borrowing programme.

She warned that if the decree were challenged before the Constitutional Court, the government should not use public relief measures as a justification or “hostage”, since it had chosen to combine the two schemes under a single decree.

Prime Minister’s Office Minister Paradorn Prissananantakul, responding on behalf of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, defended the borrowing plan.

He said the Middle East conflict had directly affected energy prices, commodity costs and household living expenses, while the government faced severe fiscal constraints.

He said emergency reserve funds in the 2026 budget stood at only around 20 billion baht, while a budget transfer bill would likely free up only another 20-30 billion, leaving the government with just 40 billion baht available — insufficient to mitigate the economic impact.

He said the government needed to borrow 400 billion baht to prevent a sharp rise in living costs,

Under the first four-month phase, 13.2 million state welfare cardholders would receive 1,000 baht per month, while another 30 million people would receive support through the “Khon La Khrueng Plus” co-payment scheme, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 43.2 million people.

### Extended conflict

He said the approach was based on assessments by four key agencies — the Bank of Thailand, the National Economic and Social Development Council, the Finance Ministry and the Budget Bureau — which projected that the Mideast conflict could persist at a moderate level for an extended period.

Injecting money into the economy in the short term was necessary to maintain purchasing power, he said.

Mr Paradorn added that medium-term fiscal projections confirmed that Thailand’s public debt level would remain below the 70% ceiling over the next three to four years.

On the 200-billion-baht allocation for clean energy transition, he said the measure was urgent as it aimed to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and lower electricity costs sustainably.

He explained that the projects could not be included in the fiscal 2027 budget as the Budget Bureau had already closed submissions on May 1, and few such proposals had been submitted due to time constraints.

For debt management, the government plans to borrow domestically at an estimated interest rate of 1.3% and allocate about 4% of the annual expenditure budget — about 150 billion baht per year — to repay both principal and interest through the normal fiscal system.

He insisted the emergency borrowing decree fully complies with Section 172 of the constitution and is intended to ensure urgent financial relief reaches the public in a timely manner.

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- KEYWORDS

- Thailand economy

- Sirikanya

- Government borrowing

- Fiscal policy

- Khon la khrueng

- Energy transition

- Public debt