By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE THAI RETAILERS Association today (Nov.13) advised the Pheu Thai-led government’s 10,000-baht digital wallet project to get started a month sooner than scheduled to better boost domestic consumption.
Thai Retailers Association head Yon Pokhasap suggested the populist handout campaign scheduled to begin next May be moved up to next April during which time many people will usually return to their home provinces in all regions of the country ahead of Songkran festival.
Domestic consumption involving tourism-related businesses and retail stores nationwide will considerably increase, given the 10,000-baht digital wallet for each of some 50 million Thai nationals, according to the association head.
He said an estimated 2.4 million retail stores and tourism-related businesses throughout the country will more or less benefit from the populist handout project and that domestic consumption might probably not only rise on a short-term basis but a long-term one.
Meanwhile, Prommin Lertsuridej, secretary-general to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, commented today that legislation to be lodged by the Pheu Thai-led government to find a sum of 500 billion baht in loan to finance the digital wallet project is primarily designed to “fix the country’s economic crisis” which, he said, has remained unsettled since the last decade.
The much-heralded populist campaign was initiated at a time when the country’s overall economic condition already became critical, thus being in need of a vital recovery, he said.
His comments apparently followed criticism that the prime minister has finally failed to keep his word since he earlier pledged to avoid the “Borrow-Tom-To-Pay-Paul” policy.
CAPTION:
Representative images of digital wallet project. Top photo: Thai Rath, Front Page photo: Matichon
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