By Thai Newsroom Reporters
MOST PEOPLE HAVE BEEN FOUND to disagree to the Pheu Thai-led government’s plan to borrow as much as 500 billion baht in loan to fund the much-heralded, yet contentious digital wallet project, says a NIDA poll released today (Nov.19).
According to the poll recently conducted among a total of 1,310 people from all walks of life in all regions of the country, 69% of the respondents disagree to the government’s plan to file legislation to borrow a sum of 500 billion baht in loan to finance the Pheu Thai-initiated populist handout campaign.
That compared to 28% of the respondents who say otherwise as it remains to be seen whether the sought-after loan will be provided by domestic financial sources or foreign ones or both.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has earlier pledged to never borrow the money to fund the digital wallet project which, he repeatedly said, will not only promote domestic consumption, create jobs and stimulate local economy on a short-term basis but boost the country’s GDP on a long-term one.
Meanwhile, the NIDA poll has found 66% of the respondents agree to the personal economic status imposed for each Thai national aged 16 years or over to be denied the 10,000-baht digital wallet in case that they may currently earn a minimum of 70,000 baht in monthly income or have a minimum of 500,000 baht in bank account.
That compared to 32% of the respondents who say otherwise. Such a limit on the personal economic status had been earlier set at a minimum of 25,000 baht in monthly income or a minimum of 100,000 baht in bank account.
The opinions were almost equally split between 50% of the respondents who disagree to handing out the digital wallet only for the buying of food, non-alcoholic beverages and consumer goods but not for the purchase of services such as those at beauty salons, barber shops, spa and massage parlours and car wash garages and 49% who say otherwise.
CAPTION:
Representative images of the government’s digital wallet scheme. Top photo: Thai Rath, Front Page photo: Matichon
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