Thai government’s plan to fund a 500 billion THB (14.3 billion USD) cash handout with a special borrowing legislation got the green light from its legal adviser, clearing a key hurdle to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s controversial stimulus programme.
Bangkok (VNA) – Thai government’s plan to fund a 500 billion THB(14.3 billion USD) cash handout with aspecial borrowing legislation got the green light from its legal adviser,clearing a key hurdle to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s controversial stimulus programme.
Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat on January 8 revealedthat the Council of State said it is within the government’s power to enact theborrowing bill for the cash stimulus programme.
According to the digital wallet scheme, the Thai government plans togive away 10,000 THB each toabout 50 million Thais 16 years old and above starting from May 2024 to turbocharge growth in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.
Julapun said that a committeetasked to oversee the cash handout programme will meet soon to discuss the draftbill and plan the timeline of cash distribution.
The so-called digital wallet plancan still face legal challenges from those opposed to the handout. The move toborrow money for the programme has triggered a backlash, including fromThailand’s opposition parties, some former central bankers and economists onconcerns that move may widen the fiscal deficit and stoke inflation.
The premier is aimingto accelerate annual growth in Thailand that has lagged neighbours and averagedbelow 2% in the past decade, to 5% during his term. Earlier, the House ofRepresentatives passed the first reading of Srettha’s 3.48 trillion THB budgetplan for the fiscal year through September 30, 2024./.
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Thailand expects to export about 1 million tonnes of durian, valued at an estimated 130 billion THB (3.53 billion USD) this year, with most of the shipments to China, according to Minister of Agriculture Thammanat Prompao.
The 72nd meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Intellectual Property Cooperation (AWGIPC) and related meetings are being held by the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of Vietnam in the central city of Da Nang on April 22-26.
Enhancing regional food security and tackling the pressing challenges of climate change will be key agendas defining Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025, Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat (lower house) Johari Abdul told the press on April 19.
The Bank of Thailand (Photo: reuters.com)
