The government will send a letter asking for legal advice from the Council of State about the digital wallet loan bill within this week.
Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat updated the media on the progress of the digital wallet loan bill yesterday after conversing with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on the issuance of the law.
Asked about the main topics of the letter, Mr Julapun said it would be about laws and regulations to ensure that the digital wallet scheme's 500-billion-baht loan bill follows the law.
"We have not yet sent the loan bill to the Council of State," he said, adding that the ministry still needs to add more details to the bill, such as information about the economic situation and the report about Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that were recently issued by the National Economic and Social Development Council to ensure all documents and references are complete.
When asked about the next step, he said after receiving an answer from the Council of State, the ministry will revise the bill and submit it to the cabinet for approval.
If the cabinet approves, the digital wallet loan bill will be submitted to the Council of State to check the bill's legal angles. When the Council of State returns the bill, it will be submitted to the Lower House for debate, he said.
"The whole process will not take a long time. The digital wallet project will be implemented by May next year as planned," said Mr Julapun.
The 10,000-baht handout will be offered to Thais aged 16 and older earning less than 70,000 baht per month and/or have under 500,000 baht in bank deposits. Based on these criteria, an estimated 50 million people will be eligible, down from 56 million originally. The digital money will be based on blockchain technology and can be spent on consumer goods within the district of their home registration address.