BANGKOK, May 19 (Reuters) – Thailand’s cabinet has approved new borrowing of 200 billion baht ($6.13 billion) to support a consumer subsidy scheme, Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said on Tuesday, part of the government’s efforts to alleviate the impact of the Middle East war on the cost of living.
• The scheme will cover about 43 million people over four months, the finance ministry’s permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit said at a press conference.
• The government will offer 1,000 baht ($30.68) per person per month from June to September.
• The government will subsidise 60% of the prices of certain consumer goods, capped at 200 baht per day.
• The borrowing will not be a one-time loan, but will be done gradually to cover the costs of the subsidy, he said.
• The 200 billion baht will be raised through term loans and promissory notes at interest rates below 1.5%, with market liquidity ample, Jindarat Viriyataveekul, head of the Public Debt Management Office, told Reuters.
• The borrowing will raise the public debt-to-GDP ratio to about 68% by the end of September, remaining below the official ceiling of 70%, she said.
• The new borrowing is part of a 400 billion loan decree, which is facing a legal challenge.
• “The measure is necessary because if we leave the economic crisis to go on, businesses will close, people will lose their jobs and the economy will sink for a long time,” Ekniti said.
($1 = 32.6000 baht)
(Reporting by Kitiphong Thaichareon, Orathai Sriring and Chayut Setboonsarng, Editing by David Stanway)
