Govt 'has enough cash' to help Covid sufferers

Govt 'has enough cash' to help Covid sufferers

Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith yesterday gave his assurances that the government has enough money to continue funding Covid-relief programmes and kickstart the economy.

Mr Arkhom said the 400 billion baht left of the one trillion-baht-loan secured via the state of emergency was enough to care for people facing hardship.

He added that the government was also still considering a third extension of the popular Kon La Krueng (Half-Half) co-payment scheme.

Kon La Krueng subsidises people's spending on consumer purchases, and ruled out the need to issue another executive decree to borrow more money.

More measures -- a mix of relief and economic stimulus measures -- were in the pipeline to sustain the economy, he said, and it was only a matter of launching them at the appropriate time.

Mr Arkhom said there were also funds remaining in the Rao Chana and Rao Rak Kan financial aid schemes left over from the previous Covid-19 handouts.

Rao Chana is aimed at providing 7,000 baht in subsidies to citizens impacted by the pandemic.

Rao Rak Kan is a financial remedy to assist employees covered by Section 33 of the Social Security Act.

Mr Arkhom said the new outbreak was being monitored closely to see how long it was likely to take before the virus is contained.

That in turn would help determine if the country remained on course to achieving its 4% economic growth forecast for 2021, said the minister.

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