The government has the authority to interpret the current economy as being in a crisis, an important criterion for the issuance of the 500-billion-baht loan bill to finance its digital wallet handout scheme, says Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat.
He said there is no specific definition of an economic crisis as it depends on individual interpretation. However, the government views the economy as being in a state of a crisis and requires urgent stimulus measures to prevent the situation from deteriorating.
The issue of whether the economy is in a state of crisis or not inevitably would not affect high-income earners. However, low-income earners say the economy is not doing well and is in a crisis.
He added that Thailand's economy is in a state of recession owing to the high level of household debt. Currently, household debt stands at 90% of GDP, impacting domestic consumption, savings and investment, contributing to a low growth rate over the past 20 years.
People only think about sustaining their livelihood, finding money to pay off debts, while the private sector is concerned with reducing costs in order to increase debt serviceability.
The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) announced GDP expanded by only 1.8% in 2023, which is similar to the earlier projection by the Bank of Thailand and the National Economic and Social Development Council.
He said as soon as the National Anti-Corruption Committee sends its comments on the loan bill to the Digital Wallet Policy Committee, the government will proceed with the digital handout scheme. However, the scheme will probably not be able to be rolled out within the original timeframe in May and the postponement might only provide a meagre stimulus effect to the economy.
Section 53 of the 2018 State Fiscal and Financial Discipline Act stipulates that the taking out of loans by the government for reasons other than those provided in the law on public debt administration is permissible, provided the Ministry of Finance do so only by virtue of the law specifically enacted and only in the case where there occurs a need for action to be taken urgently and continually to resolve critical problems, where annual appropriations cannot be fixed in due time, and clear indication of the purpose of the loan is given.