Thailand's finance ministry is planning to offer Thais a new economic stimulus programme at the end of the year as a New Year’s gift, minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on December 10.

“We are designing a new campaign to help boost domestic consumption, especially among those with high purchasing power.

“The current programme targeting this group, ‘Ying Chai, Ying Dai’ [Spend More, Get More], is not as successful as we hoped. Hence, the new programme will focus on granting tax breaks to affluent spenders,” he said.

The Ying Chai, Ying Dai subsidy offers cashback e-vouchers worth 10 to 15 per cent on spending of up to 60,000 baht ($1,800).

The cashback is capped at 7,000 baht per person and stored in registrants’ Pao Tang digital wallets to spend at participating shops.

“As for the ‘Kon La Kreung’ [Let’s Go Halves] programme, the ministry will consider a fourth-round once the current round ends on December 31, provided the total spending shows an upward trend,” Arkhom added.

“Hopefully, spending under this programme will rise significantly during the high-season in line with the consumer confidence index, which is heading upwards.”

The Kon La Kreung stimulus measure targets mainstream consumers and small businesses by covering 50 per cent of their bills for food, drinks and basic necessities capped at 150 baht per day and 3,500 baht per round.

The finance minister said he will propose the new stimulus measure to the Cabinet on December 21.

THE NATION (THAILAND)/ASIA NEWS NETWORK