Shopping stimulus scheme hit by low registrations on first day
The government’s latest shopping stimulus scheme got off to an underwhelming start on Monday, with only 296,003 people registering for “Ying Chai Ying Dai” (Spend More, Get More).
The scheme is targeting 4 million people with cashback e-vouchers worth 10-15 per cent on spending of up to 60,000 baht.
The cashback is capped at 7,000 baht per person and stored in registrants’ Pao Tang digital wallets to spend at participating shops.
The campaign aims to encourage high-income people to spend more to boost the economy, Finance Ministry permanent secretary Krisada Chinavicharana said on Tuesday.
“However, we understand that some wealthy people may not register because they want to help the government save budget.”
He added that if the scheme failed to hit its registration target, the money saved would not be allotted to other shopping subsidy schemes, such as “Kon La Kreung” (Lets Go Halves), which has more registrants.
Kon La Kreung targets 31 million people and had over 27.7 million registrants as of June 20.
Meanwhile registration for Ying Chai Ying Dai will remain open until the target of 4 million registrants is met. The scheme covers spending from July 1 to September 31. Registrants will get 10 per cent back on the first 40,000 baht they spend, capped at 4,000 baht, and 15 per cent back on spending of 40,001-60,000 baht, capped at 3,000 baht. The e-vouchers can be spent from August 7 to December 31 at participating shops.