Finance Ministry preps B45bn for latest cash handout

Finance Ministry preps B45bn for latest cash handout

The Finance Ministry is to propose a 45-billion-baht cash handout to 15 million people for cabinet approval by mid-September to stimulate consumer spending.

Wednesday's meeting of the Center for Economic Situation Administration approved the stimulus measure proposed by the ministry.

The proposal will be forwarded for cabinet approval in the middle of this month, said Lavaron Sangsnit, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office.

Under the measure, the government will give 3,000-baht cash handouts to individuals to buy consumer goods.

They are required to register for the cash and the money will be transferred through the Pao Tang app's G-wallet app, similar to procedures under the Taste-Shop-Spend scheme.

The details of the 45-billion-baht handout differ from those of the earlier scheme, Mr Lavaron said.

The main difference is the government will allocate 3,000 baht for each individual via the Pao Tang app and limit daily spending to no more than 100-200 baht. The Taste-Shop-Spend scheme distributed a sum of 1,000 baht via the app for each individual, and the recipient could spend the entire amount.

The limit for daily spending remains under discussion, while spending must be done between October and December, Mr Lavaron said.

If there is no spending on a particular day, the money can be used for extra spending on the next day.

The government will contribute 50% for all spending on a daily basis.

The 45-billion-baht cash handout measure will use funds from the 1-trillion-baht loan decree in the portion allocated for public aid for the Covid-19 crisis worth 600 billion baht.

Of the 600-billion-baht sum, the remaining amount is 180 billion baht.

The measure is expected to generate about 90 billion baht, equivalent to 0.28% GDP growth, in terms of money circulation, with 45 billion baht coming from the government's fiscal budget, which will be disbursed to people's e-wallets and the rest stemming from public contribution, Mr Lavaron said.

The consumption stimulus measure is aimed at reducing the cost of living and boosting private consumption along with supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, he said.

About 50,000 stores are registered in the Thung Ngern (Money Bag) app, a digital wallet system, and it's expected that at least 100,000 stores nationwide will register, Mr Lavaron said.

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