‘More money for more people’ in shopping scheme pipeline
PM Prayut Chan-o-cha wants the Finance Ministry to propose phase 2 of the “Khon La Khrueng” (Let's Go Halves) shopping scheme and additional cash for state welfare card holders to the Centre for Economic Situation Administration (CESA) by the beginning of December.
The ministry is considering whether to raise the maximum limit on the Let's Go Halves subsidy from Bt3,000 and extend the scheme to more people, permanent secretary Krisda Chinavicharana said on Monday.
"We plan to extend the privileges to 14 million-15 million people, but we have to check the number of registrants first, because people who pay over 10 per cent tax should register for ‘Shop Dee Mee Kuen’ (Shop and Payback) instead, to receive up to Bt30,000 [in tax deduction]," he said.
"Meanwhile, we will extend the shopping subsidies until February next year if we decide to increase the maximum limit."
He said the ministry is also considering raising the Bt500 monthly payment to ease living costs for state welfare card holders.
"We expect to have enough government budget to apply these measures in order to stimulate the economy," he said.
The ministry has also instructed state-owned financial institutions to launch measures as “New Year's gifts” to help customers, especially those with good debt repayment records.