No new revelations in digital wallet scheme announcement: MFP MP

Move Forward Party’s deputy leader Sirikanya Tansakun said no doubts were cleared or new information provided in the government’s announcement about the digital wallet scheme on Wednesday.

The opposition MP said she believes the ongoing uncertainties may result in the government being unable to keep its promise of handing out the 10,000 baht it promised to some 45 million Thais within the fourth quarter.

“The only new information is the registration dates,” she said.
She said the announcement only clearly said that those with smartphones had between August 1 and September 15 to register and those without smartphones could do so from September 16 onwards.

She also noted that the registration of shops has been postponed to early October, and the government has failed to provide clear information on the subject.

Sirikanya also pointed out that Deputy Finance Minister Paophum Rojanasakul failed to answer reporters when asked for figures on how the scheme would boost economic growth.

She added that Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat had also failed to provide clarity on the source of funds for the scheme.
Julapun only said the money would come from two fiscal years’ budgets – 122 billion baht from the additional 2024 budget and 43 billion baht through the management of the budget, while 152.7 billion would come from fiscal 2025 budget and 132.3 billion would be managed from the budget.

However, Sirikanya said Julapun failed to explain what this “management budget” was.

“He did not explain whether 132.3 billion would come from the 2025 budget’s central fund or funds leftover from other projects,” she asked.

She also said it was still unclear whether the 2024 budget could be spent after the fiscal year ends on September 30.

The MP said members of the House committee vetting the additional 2024 budget were still squabbling on whether the budget could be rolled over to finance the digital wallet scheme in the fourth quarter.

She said that even the Finance Ministry’s permanent secretary had pointed out at the special House panel’s meeting that the government may have to use funds from a special bank loan to finance part of the scheme instead of just relying on the fiscal 2024 budget.

With all these doubts hanging in the air, she said she doubts very much that the project will be ready in time to hand out the funds to recipients in the fourth quarter.

She also noted that the payment system will possibly not be set up in time for the fourth-quarter launch because it has to do a complicated job of checking the location of buyers and shops.

The opposition MP said she does not feel the announcement has failed her because she was not expecting much anyway.