Yesterday, at a seminar on Thailand’s budget and economy, economists and other experts took a hostile tack when describing the populist policies undertaken by the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The Nation quoted former deputy prime minister MR Pridiyathom Devakula as saying that if the populist policies continued, national debt could rise as high as 80% of GDP by the year 2019. Already, national debt is expected to reach 60% of GDP, thanks to extant policy decisions.
This contrasts sharply with financial figures from 2008, when the government had a national debt of 36% of GDP.
The policy that sparked the widest debate among the economic experts was the rice-pledging scheme, which has cost Thailand THB189.14 billion.
Several of those in attendance at the conference urged the government to pass legislation that would make public the sources of funding for its populist initiatives.
