Thailand’s parliament is poised for an extraordinary session next month to deliberate on a substantial 3.78 trillion baht ($113 billion) budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year.
The administration under Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is strategizing to mitigate the effects of US-imposed tariffs. The House of Representatives is slated to review the financial plan from May 28-30 as it prepares for the fiscal year commencing on October 1, according to House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha. Initially, the assembly was planned for July.
The proposed budget for 2025-26 reflects a slight increase of 0.8% over the current year’s 3.75 trillion baht allocation, with a projected reduction in the fiscal shortfall to 860 billion baht from 870 billion.
This parliamentary discussion arises as some opposing members call for alterations to the financial blueprint to address the repercussions of a looming 36% retaliatory tariff by the United States.
Moreover, the International Monetary Fund recently revised Thailand’s economic growth forecast for 2025 to 1.8%, a significant decrease from its initial projection of 2.9% made in January. Among ASEAN countries, Thailand is the only nation for which the IMF has adjusted the GDP forecast to below 2%. Furthermore, the forecast for 2026 predicts a continued decline, with growth expected to decrease to 1.6%.
In the broader outlook, the fund projects a global economic growth of only 2.8% in 2025, a decrease from the earlier forecast of 3.3% predicted in January.
