Parliament on Wednesday started debating a bill to allow the government to borrow an additional 500 billion baht to help deal with the country's latest and biggest coronavirus outbreak.
The economy is expected to grow only 1.5%-2.5% this year after last year's 6.1% slump, with tourism still struggling, the government predicts.
The outbreak has not yet been contained and there is an urgent and unavoidable need for more funding to help quickly restore the economy to normal, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith told the House of Representatives.
The debate is scheduled to conclude on Thursday.
