The government will begin offering stimulus handouts to 14.5 million needy people starting from Sept 25, which is expected to help lift economic growth to 3% this year, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The first recipients will include 12.4 million people with state welfare cards and 2.1 million disabled individuals, with each receiving 10,000 baht, Lavaron Sangsnit, the ministry’s permanent secretary, said on Friday.
The “digital wallet” stimulus programme was originally expected to cover as many as 50 million people. However, funding it has been a challenge. Thirty million people have registered for the handouts so far, but the government has not set a firm timetable for the next phase.
The first phase of distribution will start on Sept 25 through state welfare cards and disability cards via PromptPay, linked to their national ID numbers.
Distribution is to be staggered, with payments to disabled individuals to be made from Sept 25.
For state welfare cardholders, distribution is as follows: on Sept 25 for those with card numbers ending in 0; Sept 26 for those with numbers ending in 1, 2 and 3; on Sept 27 for those with numbers ending in 4, 5, 6 and 7; and on Sept 30 for those with numbers ending in 8 and 9.
The staggered approach is intended to avoid disrupting salary payments within the banking system, with a daily allocation of 4-5 million people considered appropriate.
More than 11 million state welfare cardholders have linked PromptPay to their ID numbers, leaving over 1 million in this group still to link to the payment system.
Payments to disabled individuals are being made through the current system under which they receive monthly state assistance.
Mr Lavaron urged state welfare cardholders to link their national ID numbers to PromptPay by the end of the year to receive the 10,000-baht handout.
Failure to do so would render them ineligible for the payment this year.
Platform needs more work
As for the second phase, he said it would depend on the readiness of the payment platform, which is being managed by the Digital Government Development Agency.
He said the digital handout represents important infrastructure for Thailand and a future tool for the government to inject money to create a digital economy.
Once the system is completed, there will likely be a second phase, with a budget of 187 billion baht allocated for fiscal 2025, said Mr Lavaron.
Once the government has distributed money to vulnerable groups, he said, the pressure to distribute funds may decrease, allowing more time for the government to develop the payment system.
Financial institutions have expressed concerns that the rushed implementation of the platform might not have left enough time for adequate testing, which is needed to ensure confidence.
Mr Lavaron said he believes the first phase of payments, along with funds from Vayupak Fund 1 investment units, will help stimulate the economy in the final quarter this year, potentially helping to achieve the government’s 3% growth target.
The National Economic and Social Development Council projects GDP growth of around 2.5% this year.