The government looks set to roll out a number of measures aimed at cutting living costs and stimulating the economy following the first cabinet meeting slated to take place next week.
The measures will include adjustments to diesel and electricity prices, according to Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat.
The government is considering lowering the diesel excise tax in an effort to bring down the retail price of diesel in the market, as well as a moratorium on government debt repayments to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) for subsidising household electricity rates since September 2021. The subsidy is estimated to have cost Egat 135 billion baht.
As for the Pheu Thai Party's pledge to give away 10,000 baht in digital cash, the party's acting deputy leader and a member of the party's policy committee, Kitti Limsakul, said the money will be disbursed in 2-3 installments, not all at once.
When asked to respond to critics who claimed the policy isn't viable, Mr Kitti said the policy could be implemented as it isn't against the Bank of Thailand's (BoT) regulations, as alleged by some.
He said the digital money is a token that can be exchanged for baht notes, as outlined by the law on digital assets and development for economy and society, not a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, he said.
The first round of the cash payment, which is expected to be around 2,500 baht, will be handed out ahead of a holiday, such as the Songkran festival. The government will then assess the policy to see how effective it is in stimulating the economy, he said.
If the result proves to be satisfactory, the government will disburse the next package of 2,500 baht, and vendors who receive payments using the digital money handout will then be required to pay taxes on their income, he said.
The last payment of 5,000 baht will then follow, he said.
The project will contribute to economic growth and help boost the nation's gross domestic product (GDP) by around 5% per year, he said.
A statement posted on Pheu Thai's Facebook page, however, insisted the 10,000 baht will be transferred all at once.
The statement said the installment payments mentioned by Mr Kitti simply was his personal opinion.
It is unclear what will happen to the rest of the payment if, after the first one is issued, the government decides the economic impact was less than expected.
Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, meanwhile, is planning to accelerate the party's plan to cap fares across Bangkok's electric rail network at a fixed rate of 20 baht per trip, said a source.
"This policy has been marked as urgent as it was among the key policies promised by the party during the May 14 election,'' he said.
Mr Suriya is drawing up a timeframe for the policy's implementation with other state agencies, such as the Ministry of Finance, Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA) and Department of Rail Transport.
This policy will require about 5.44 billion baht in annual subsidies from the government, depending on how it will be implemented.
Mr Suriya also intends to expand the capacity of Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket and other regional airports to support the country's aviation industry and tourism promotion.
The source said Mr Suriya also intends to push more major logistics and transport infrastructure development projects, including the Thai Land Bridge project in the South, which have already been studied and proposed by previous governments.
Prommin Lertsuridej, chief of Pheu Thai's team working on the party's policies and economic affairs committee, said the new government is speeding up the drafting its policy statement, which will be delivered in parliament on Sept 11.
The government is working closely with the National Economics and Social Development Council and the Secretariat of the Cabinet on the coalition's policy statement, he said.
Most of the new government's priority policies, which will be declared in parliament before it formally starts working on them, concern ways to stimulate the economy, he said.
"Reviving tourism, a prime source of Thailand's income, and tackling household debts are among these priorities," he said.
