Thai MPs approved two government bills to borrow 22 billion dollars for an economic stimulus package, despite a walkout by angry opposition legislators, premier Abhisit Vejjajiva said Wednesday.
The opposition, many of whom are loyal to ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, refused to take part in the vote for the second of the bills after one of their members was ejected for using "improper" language.
The government has said that the 800-billion-baht loan, mainly from local money markets, will fund stimulus measures worth 1.4 trillion baht over the next three years as Thailand grapples with recession.
The lower house Tuesday overwhelmingly passed the first 400-billion-baht tranche of the money, while the second tranche was adopted early Wednesday after the opposition boycotted the session.
"They wanted to show their opposition... but I hope that the opposition will not do that today in the budget debate," Abhisit told reporters.
The Oxford-educated prime minister's shaky ruling coalition, led by his Democrat Party, began presenting its budget to parliament later Wednesday.
The opposition has said the bills for the stimulus package lack details, but Abhisit countered that they must explain to the public why they had boycotted the vote.