Thailand approves slightly larger budget for next fiscal year

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's cabinet approved on Tuesday a budget of 3.2 trillion baht ($99.75 billion) for the fiscal year that will begin on Oct. 1, slightly higher than the current year's 3 trillion baht budget.

In a statement, the cabinet said the budget for the next fiscal year would have a deficit of 450 billion baht or 2.4 percent of gross domestic product, compared with a gap of 2.6 percent for the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30.

The planned budget calls for government investments of 691 billion baht, equal to 21.6 percent of all spending and 6.5 percent higher than in the current year, the statement said.

($1 = 32.08 baht)

(Reporting by Kitiphong Thaichareon; Writing by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Richard Borsuk)