Deputy Finance Minister Paopoom Rojanasakul has ordered the National Savings Fund (NSF) to expedite the amendment of the NSF Act to facilitate the implementation of a savings innovation for low-income individuals, known as the retirement lottery, which offers attractive prizes.
According to Mr Paopoom, the process is now being handled by the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) and the Finance Ministry for legal adjustments, with an expectation that the draft will be presented to the cabinet by early September.
The cabinet approved the concept of the retirement lottery on July 16 to promote savings under the NSF to accommodate retirement through the retirement savings lottery project.
The retirement lottery will resemble a lottery draw, but the money used to purchase lottery tickets will not be lost in the way it is in government lotteries or underground lotteries.
Instead, every baht spent on the retirement lottery will be saved in the member’s NSF account, and returns will be earned from NSF investments. Members can receive these funds when they turn 60.
The lottery — deemed an innovative form of savings promotion — specifically aims to promote retirement savings for informal workers who are not part of a system that supports retirement savings.
There are now around 20 million informal workers, out of a total workforce of 37.5 million. Since the NSF started its operations in 2015, it has only attracted 2.76 million members.
Under the retirement lottery criteria, savers can purchase digital scratch tickets through the NSF application at 50 baht per ticket, with a maximum purchase of 3,000 baht per month.
The retirement lottery will issue 5 million tickets per week. Prizes will be drawn every Friday at 5pm.
The first prize is 1 million baht, with five prizes available, and the second prize is 1,000 baht, with 10,000 prizes available. Winners can withdraw their prize money immediately. If all prizes are not claimed in a particular draw, they will roll over to the next draw.
Regardless of whether or not the buyer’s ticket is a winning ticket, all the money spent on these lottery tickets would be saved in an individual’s savings account via the NSF and can be withdrawn at the age of 60 to support retirement savings.
The savings in the account will also earn returns from NSF investments until retirement.
Mr Paopoom insisted the retirement lottery project will not burden the budget. Based on the prize money, the government will issue two draws, with the first prize worth 1 million baht for five winners, and the second prize worth 1,000 baht for 10,000 winners.
This means 15 million baht will be spent every Friday when the draw takes place. Over four weeks, this totals 60 million baht, and annually, it will only cost 700-800 million baht, which is minimal compared to the amount the government needs to spend on elderly care, he said.
In a related development, according to Mr Paopoom, the NSF is scheduled to carry out the “Retirement Lottery Roadshow Across Thailand” in four regions to raise public awareness about savings and to gather public feedback, ensuring that the lottery meets the people’s needs.
The first event started yesterday at the Bangkok Railway Station (Hua Lamphong), followed by events in Phitsanulok, Phang Nga and Sakon Nakhon provinces.
