NationThailand/Reuters-Sept 3
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Tuesday said part of the government’s vaunted 450 billion baht ($13.1 billion) “digital wallet” handout will be distributed in cash, in another change to its flagship populist policy. Details are still being finalized and will be announced in a policy statement to parliament, she added.
The digital wallet handout had previously entailed transferring 10,000 baht ($292) in credit to 50 million Thais via a smartphone application to spend in their localities within six months. It was not immediately clear how much of the budget for the program would be distributed in cash. A deputy finance minister could not immediately be reached for comment. The comments from Paetongtarn, 38, come two weeks after she was selected to become Thailand’s youngest prime minister by parliament after her predecessor Srettha Thavisin, the policy’s biggest advocate, was removed from office by a court. A new government is expected to be formed by mid-September, with a cabinet list already finalized but yet to be made public. The stimulus program, the ruling Pheu Thai Party’s main election platform, aims to jumpstart an economy that has been lagging behind regional peers. Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy grew 2.3% in the April-June quarter, but analysts said fiscal policy uncertainty clouded the outlook. The central bank has forecast economic growth of 2.6% for this year, after last year’s 1.9% expansion. Economists and two former central bank governors have criticized the handout program for being fiscally irresponsible and the government has delayed the scheme due to funding issues. It is due to be rolled out in the final quarter. Government officials have promised the plan will adhere to fiscal discipline. Read more at:
