(Bloomberg) — Thailand expects the recipients of its two-part cash handout at no more than 40 million, which will make it easier for the government of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to finance and implement.
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The government will kick off the first phase by giving 10,000 baht ($300) to each of the 14.5 million Thais in most need of assistance from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1, Permanent Secretary for Finance Lavaron Sangsnit told reporters in Bangkok on Monday.
The second phase, slated to be implemented early next year, is expected to cover 36 million Thais who have applied for the program by the deadline on Sept. 15. While the applicants who are already set to receive the first round of payment will be excluded in the second phase, about 3 million people who are eligible but don’t have smartphones will be added, he said.
Due to the lower number of recipients, the entire program will cost no more than 400 billion baht ($12 billion), less than the estimated 450 billion baht planned by the previous administration.
“The overall number won’t exceed 40 million. This will save our budget by more than 100 billion baht and make it easier for the government to manage financing for the project,” Lavaron said, citing an initial coverage estimate of 45 million people. Budgets approved by the parliament for this fiscal year as well as next will cover the funding of the program, he said.
The cash gift program, along with government spending and additional kick from the state-run Vayupak Fund to boost the stock market will help energize Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy in the fourth quarter, according to Lavaron. Thailand’s sub-2% annual gross domestic product growth in the past decade has lagged most neighbors expanding at 5% or faster.
Paetongtarn’s cabinet is set to approve the plans for the cash stimulus on Tuesday. The original plan under her predecessor was to give away cash to as many as 50 million Thai adults.
The new premier also met with Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira and his deputies earlier on Monday to discuss ways to boost Thailand’s economy. The government sees a mission to lift livelihoods for Thais as its utmost priority, said Julapun Amornvivat, a deputy finance minister.
Meanwhile, the new administration is studying a plan to set up a 300 billion baht infrastructure fund that will help buy back electric trains in Bangkok from private operators, Pichai told reporters.
The government will be able to cut fares for seven mass transit services in the capital to a single charge of 20 baht per trip should it take over their operations, he said.
–With assistance from Patpicha Tanakasempipat.
(Updates with new information from the seventh paragraph.)
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