Financial decrees verdict on Thai flood prevention

The high court comes up with a verdict on the two financial decrees about flood control, made to accumulate more public debt.

The concluding arguments were already presented in front of the Constitution Court.

Decree number 1 is for the Bt1.14 trillion debt transfer acquired by the Financial Institution Development Fund from the Finance Ministry to the Bank of Thailand. It will give chance to the government to borrow more money for post-flooding infrastructure development.

Decree number 2 is to give the power to the government to finance flood control measures with Bt350 billion extra in loans.

Democrat MP Korn Chatikavanij, adversary of the decrees stated that they were unconstitutional because the government's bypassing of regular procedures was unjustified. Additionally he pointed out that the transfer of the dept was not indispensable at the moment as there would be no visible outcomes for the economy. Also the government hasn't prepared transparent spending plans to reason the second decree.

The reply of the government's defender, Finance Minister Kittiratt Na Ranong, was that the decrees were crucial for economic security and flood management.