Prime Ministre Srettha Thavisin will announce the complete details of the government's digital wallet handout scheme on July 24, Deputy Finance Minister Paopoom Rojanasakul said.
The details will include the list of products that digital money recipients can buy and the dates when potential recipients and vendors can register to participate in the project, Mr Paopoom said on Monday.
The registration system is completely developed, he said.
According to the deputy finance minister, a project implementation sub-committee will meet on Wednesday to conclude the details.
On July 15, the details will be forwarded to the digital wallet committee chaired by the prime minister, and the panel will propose the project to the cabinet on July 30 for acknowledgement.
Mr Paopoom did not think recipients would be able to use the digital money to buy mobile phones and electronic devices. However, the list of eligible products had yet to be concluded, he said.
“The money transfer for people’s spending will begin in the fourth quarter of this year as planned,” Mr Paopoom said.
He confirmed that the handout project would cost the state 500 billion baht and would not be downsized. It would be funded from the 2024 and 2025 budgets and a 170-billion-baht contribution from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, he said.
In response to the World Bank’s expectation that the handout project could raise the gross domestic product by only 0.5-1%, Mr Paopoom said because the project is new and requires recipients to spend within their local areas, there were various ways to make assessments of its impact.
Under the digital money project, the government plans to hand out 10,000 baht each to 50 million people 16 years and older.
To be eligible for this scheme, individuals must be Thai citizens with an income (based on personal income tax filings) not exceeding 70,000 baht per month or 840,000 baht per year. Recipients can spend the money within the districts listed on their ID cards.
