The Finance Ministry is considering tax incentives for companies that hire older workers as part of efforts to reduce the future fiscal burden of caring for the elderly as Thailand becomes a greying society.
Encouraging privately owned companies to hire older workers will help the elderly to have a steady income and reduce the fiscal burden of providing them welfare, Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said without revealing details of the tax benefits.
The government is pushing for the reinforcement of the retirement safety net. It last year set up the National Savings Fund, a voluntary pension fund for 27 million non-formal workers, and allowed provident fund members to make higher contributions than their employers.
Mr Apisak says further measures are in store to deal with the ageing Thai society.
The Finance Ministry recently said it plans to allow local financial institutions to offer reverse mortgages, a loan for senior citizens that lets them convert equity in their debt-free homes into cash. It also seeks to enforce the long-delayed mandatory provident fund scheme by 2018.
At present, 14% of the population is 60 and older, with that figure expected to climb to 21.2% by 2025.
Thailand has already become an "ageing society" as defined by the UN. It is set to be classified as an "aged society" by 2025. A society is considered to be ageing when one-tenth of its population is 60 and older and aged when one-fifth is 60 and above.
Mr Apisak said the Finance Ministry is studying another 4-5 measures to prepare the country for becoming an aged society.
A Fiscal Policy Office study showed that annual funding needs for taking care of an ageing population will surge to 873 billion baht by 2025 from 291 billion -- 2.2% of GDP this year.
Meanwhile, Mr Apisak said state enterprise directors who are the Finance Ministry's representatives must play a more active role.
To boost their efficiency, the State Enterprise Policy Office has set up an internal unit of account officers tasked with closely monitoring state officials who are involved in managing 55 state enterprises.
Account officers must work closely with the relevant directors to steer state enterprises to be in line with government policy and raise their awareness of corporate governance, he said.