At a garment factory in Thailand. (Photo: AFP/VNA)Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s parliament on May 31 passed astimulus package worth 1.9 trillion THB (58 billion USD) to ease the impact ofCOVID-19.
The legislation, comprising three bills, includes a governmentplan to borrow 1 trillion THB and central bank measures worth another 900billion THB in soft loans and support for corporate bonds.
Of the 1 trillion THB of borrowing, 600 billion THB will be forpublic heath works and relief measures, and the rest for rebuilding the economyand job creation.
The bills must next be approved by the upper house Senate, whichis expected to convene in early June, before they can become law.
The latest steps follow billions of dollars of stimulus measuresintroduced earlier this year to cope with the impact of the coronavirus on theThai economy, which is heading into a recession.
Thailand began to gradually ease some restrictions introduced tocontain the virus in early May. More businesses classified as medium to highrisks, including cinemas and gyms, will be allowed to reopen on June 1.
Thailand’s central bank has said it expects the economy to sharplycontract this year as the pandemic hit businesses and households.
Meanwhile, the Thai National Economic and Social DevelopmentCouncil said 8.4 million people are at risk of losing their jobs this year dueto the COVID-19 pandemic, with the tourism sector being most badly affected.
It estimated that the fall in the number of foreign and domestictourists could mean 2.5 million people, or 64 percent of the approximately 3.9million workers in the tourism sector, could become unemployed.
It said in a report that 1.5 million, or 25 percent of the 5.9 million personindustrial workforce, also could be laid off due to the coronavirus crisisreducing demand that was already weakened by trade wars.
The jobs of 4.4 million people, or 43 percent of 10.3 million people working inthe service sector outside of tourism, are also at risk./.
VNA
