Pradorn revealed that the government is ready to submit an explanation regarding the 400 billion baht loan decree to the Constitutional Court today as scheduled. It is expected that budget transfers from the Budget Transfer Act into the central budget will amount to about 20 billion baht, supporting disbursement efforts.
At 12:50 p.m. at the Government House, Mr. Pradorn Prissanantakul, Minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office, disclosed updates on submitting explanations and additional documents concerning the issuance of the royal decree authorizing the Ministry of Finance to borrow funds to address the impacts of the energy crisis and to facilitate the country's energy transition, or the 400 billion baht loan decree, stated that the government is prepared to submit the documents to the Constitutional Court within the seven-day timeframe, which is today. Previously, the Cabinet assigned Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Pakorn Nilprapunt to compile explanations for the issuance of the 400 billion baht loan decree from various economic agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, the National Economic and Social Development Council, the Bank of Thailand, and the Budget Bureau, and to submit these to the Constitutional Court according to procedure.
Regarding progress on approving projects using the loan under the 400 billion baht loan decree, for the remaining first tranche of 200 billion baht, about 24 billion baht remains. Mr. Pradorn said that currently, no proposals to use this remaining loan portion have been submitted to the Cabinet, as only one project has passed so far. They are waiting for Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Mr. Anek Niti Prasertsap to return from abroad first. This is because proposals must be submitted to the loan project screening committee, chaired by Mr. Lawan Sangsonit, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, before being brought back to the Cabinet meeting.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pradorn, in his role overseeing the Budget Bureau, revealed progress in drafting the Budget Transfer Act for 2026. Currently, they are awaiting reports from the Budget Bureau on the progress of budget transfers from agencies that could not commit to projects on time. It is expected that the budget transfer into the mid-year 2026 central budget will be about 20 billion baht, which is lower than earlier estimates.
When asked about opposition party doubts that if the government were serious about the Budget Transfer Act, it would yield a larger amount, Mr. Pradorn said that the act includes conditions about which budgets can or cannot be transferred. If a project’s budget has already been committed, it cannot be transferred. Nonetheless, although the budget transfer amount is lower than expected, the fact that government agencies have already committed their budgets will positively affect budget disbursement in the third quarter (July–September) of this year.