September 11, 2024
BANGKOK – The economic typhoon the government was hoping to generate with its controversial digital wallet scheme will be downgraded to just a depression, People Party MP Sirikanya Tansakun said.
Sirikanya, an economic expert of the opposition party, said she expected a much-downgraded impact from the stimulus project after Deputy PM and Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Monday that the second phase of the scheme may have to be paid in two instalments of 5,000 baht each.
The 10,000-baht handout scheme, which was introduced as a measure to boost the Thai economy, was a flagship election campaign of the ruling Pheu Thai Party.
Details of the project have been changed back and forth while preparations for its implementation were made under the government of prime minister Srettha Thavisin. Among the issues of concern were the sources of money to finance the scheme and using the funds without violating the laws on budget and financial discipline.
Following a long struggle to find enough sources of money, the Srettha government lowered the scope of recipients from 50 million to 45 million.
Since some 14.5 billion baht for the scheme is expected to come from the fiscal 2024 budget, the government has announced it will enforce the project in the first phase by wiring cash to some 14.5 state welfare cardholders and vulnerable people within September, the last month of fiscal 2024.
Initially, Pheu Thai had said the rest of the money would be paid via the digital wallet in the fourth quarter. Yet on Monday, Phumtham said the second phase would be paid in two instalments. He said half of the 10,000 baht handout will be paid in cash, and the other as part of the digital wallet.
Sirikanya said on Tuesday that she hoped Phumtham was wrong, as he was not directly in charge of the scheme. She added that if 5,000 baht in the first instalment was being paid in cash, then the project could not be called a digital wallet scheme anymore.
“And the payment of the second instalment may end up being postponed as the fiscal 2025 budget will not be sufficient again,” she said.
“What is very concerning is the impact on the economy. Initially, it was intended to generate an economic typhoon to sweep throughout the country, but it appears it will only create a depression with a far lower impact than what was advertised.”
Sirikanya said if the project’s details are changed with far less economic impact, the government should consider other stimulus measures. She noted that the government’s policy statement, which will be delivered to Parliament on Thursday, does not provide details of the digital wallet scheme.
The MP added that she does not expect corruption or the siphoning of funds, but said she feared digital fraud and hacking as the system will be rushed through.
Hence, she said, the government should consider other stimulus measures, especially if it fails to implement the digital wallet scheme with full scope as initially planned.