Thailand spends 1.4 billion USD on cash handouts to boost domestic consumption

Health officials conduct a drill on responses to a COVID-19 spread in Phayao province on September 2. (Photo: Bangkok Post)

Bangkok (VNA) - The Thai government plans to spend 45 billion THB (about 1.4 billion USD) on cash handouts to 15 million people affected by the economic fallout caused by COVID-19, which is expected to boost domestic consumption.

Danucha Pichayanan, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council, said on September 2 that a meeting of the Centre for the Administration of the Economic Situation Affected by COVID-19, approved the cash handouts as an economic stimulus measure proposed by the Finance Ministry.

Under the measure, the government will give 3,000-THB cash handouts to people to buy consumer goods.

They are required to register for the cash and the money will be transferred through the e-wallet, Danucha said.

The Finance Ministry will prepare details of the cash handouts scheme to present to the centre again and the measure is expected to be implemented from next month until the end of the year, he said.

The measure is expected to stimulate cash flow of about 90 billion THB in the economy and boost the economy by 0.25 percent, he added.

Meanwhile, the Centre for the Administration of the Economic Situation Affected by COVID-19 also approved the Labour Ministry's request for 23.47 billion THB to hire new graduates.

The 23.47 billion THB will come from the 400-billion-THB loan borrowed by the Finance Ministry to tackle the economic effects of the pandemic.

The minister said the project was the right solution to the unemployment problem faced by new graduates.

The second part of the project is the "Thailand Job Expo 2020" job fair tentatively scheduled to take place at the end of this month.

Around one million positions in the public and private sectors will be available at the event. /.