(Bloomberg) — Thailand expects recipients of the two-part cash handout to receive no more than $40 million, making it easier for Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government to finance and implement the aid.
Most read from Bloomberg
The government will start the first phase by giving 10,000 baht ($300) to each of the 14.5 million Thais who need help most from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1, Finance Permanent Secretary Lavaron Sangsnit told reporters in Bangkok on Monday.
The second phase, to be implemented early next year, will cover the remaining 36 million Thais who signed up for the program before last weekend’s registration deadline, he said.
“The total number will not exceed 40 million. This will make it easier for the government to manage the financing of the project,” Lavaron said, referring to an initial estimate of coverage of 45 million people. Budgets approved by parliament for this fiscal year and next will cover the financing of the program, he said.
The cash handout program, along with government spending and an additional boost from the state-run Vayupak Fund to boost the stock market, will give Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy a boost in the fourth quarter, Lavaron said. Thailand’s annual gross domestic product growth of less than 2% over the past decade has lagged most of its neighbors, which grew at 5% or faster.
Paetongtarn’s cabinet is set to approve plans for the monetary stimulus on Tuesday, after her predecessor originally planned to give money away to as many as 50 million Thai adults.
Most read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2024 Bloomberg LP
