Thaksin outlines plans for economy

The Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, has been outlining his government's plans in his first major speech to parliament.

He said the government would maintain a deficit budget for a while to finance its policies, which are aimed at stimulating the economy.

He said he would go ahead with plans to donate more than $2m to the country's rural villages, suspend debt repayments for three years and establish a national asset management company to take over banks' bad debts.

His plans were bitterly attacked by opposition leader, Chuan Leek-pai, who spent two hours ridiculing Mr Thaksin's party.

On Sunday, one of Mr Thaksin's coalition partners, Chalerm Yubamrung of the New Aspiration Party, added his voice to the criticism, saying that the pledges were designed to draw votes and would ultimately increase the public debt burden.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service