Thanawat, however, expressed concerns over populist policies, especially the crop mortgaging scheme and the minimum wage hike policy given they would together require over 3-4 trillion baht of budget per year, causing the nation’s public debt ratio to exceed 41% of the GDP.
The director further explained that the ratio should not exceed 50%; however, the aforementioned policies might affect the financial discipline of the government. He therefore suggested that the government should set up a special team to monitor and regulate budget disbursement for each policy.