FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Government urged to increase shopping subsidy to Bt500 per day to boost consumption

Government urged to increase shopping subsidy to Bt500 per day to boost consumption

Government subsidy in the “Khon La Khrueng” (Let’s Go Halves) campaign should be raised from Bt150 to Bt500 per day to attract spenders, since the campaign has seen only 7 million registrants against the 10 million allowed, Somchai Pornrattanacharoen, president of the Thai Wholesale and Retail Trade Association said.

The three-month economic stimulus package started on October 16 in a bid to stimulate domestic consumption. Under the Kon La Khreung scheme, 10 million people were to get daily discounts on their shopping of up to Bt150, capped at Bt3,000. Merchants must register through the website www.คนละครึ่ง.com from October 1.
“Statistics from the Ministry of Finance reveal that so far registrants under the scheme have spent roughly Bt60 million, which is lower than our estimates,” he said. “The reason could be that the Bt150 daily discount is not attractive enough and probably not worth the expense of the trip to the shops.”
Somchai proposed that the government increase the daily discount to Bt500 to attract more spenders.
“Moreover, some shop owners who are not well-versed in technology might miss their chance to participate in the programme, which requires online registration,” added Somchai.
Meanwhile, Pornchai Theeravet, adviser on financial economics at the Finance Ministry's Fiscal Policy Office, added that so far there were approximately 317,000 merchants registered under the campaign, of whom 50,000 were street vendors.
“The Finance Ministry has sought cooperation from the Ministry of Interior who would order village headmen and district chiefs to invite local merchants to join the campaign,” he said.
“We need to put the word out that registering in the campaign will not lead to merchants being audited on their tax payment history, therefore there is no need to worry.”

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