BANGKOK, May 29 (TNA) – Opposition MPs accused the
government of mishandling the COVID-19 crisis during the third day of House
debate on three COVID-19 decrees on Friday.
The House of Representatives began the five-day debate on
the three decrees on Tuesday. The first three days were devoted for the first
decree that will allow a borrowing of 1 trillion baht for financial aid, health-related
plans and economic and social rehabilitation projects.
The other two decrees authorise the Bank of Thailand to
provide soft loans to help small- and medium-sized enterprises and to buy
corporate bonds.
Seeking mammoth loans reflected the government’s failures in
administering crisis management, one of the Pheu Thai Party MPs said.
Others accused Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha government
for disproportionately distributing relief assistance for Thai people.
“The rich is getting richer while the poor faces hunger,”
Pheu Thai’s Niyom Kama said.
Since Tuesday, the opposition parties have also attacked the
government for unnecessarily imposing the emergency decree, leaving many
businesses in peril.
Prayut government has maintained that the three executive
decrees for a combined 1.97 billion loans and budget transfer are aimed at
funding COVID-19 relief and stimulate the economy.
The prime minister and his Cabinet members stressed that the
decrees were needed to stabilise the economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. They
assured that allocations of the funds would be transparent. (TNA)
