BoT Urges Cabinet to Review “Digital Wallet” Initiative

BANGKOK, April 25 (TNA) – The Governor of the Bank of Thailand (BoT) has sent an urgent letter to the Cabinet to review the 10,000-baht digital wallet scheme, suggesting it should target only a select group of 15 million financially vulnerable people.

The government plans to start the 10,000 – baht handouts to each of 50 million Thais to spend in their communities in the fourth quarter of this year. The scheme is expected to cost around 500 billion baht.

The BoT governor, Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput proposed focusing the initiative solely on financially vulnerable groups, such as those with low income or holders of the government’s welfare cards, totaling 15 million people. This targeted approach, costing only 150 billion Baht, aims to mitigate the impact on fiscal stability.

The BoT warned the digital wallet initiative could pose a significant long-term burden on the treasury. Failure to maintain the stability of public debt could increase the risk of Thailand’s credit rating downgrade.  If Thailand’s credit rating is downgraded, borrowing costs for both the public and private sectors could increase.

Moreover, the borrowing plan for the fiscal year 2025 to almost the legal threshold would leave only 5 billion baht in loans remaining, which might not be sufficient in case of emergencies.

Amid global political uncertainty, the government should consider investing 500 billion baht to address structural economic issues, such as medical workforce development, free education for 15 years nationwide, the dual-track railway and the Blue Line metro extension, the BoT suggested.

Meanwhile, the BoT’s Assistant Governor for Monetary Policy, Piti Disyatat reiterated that the BoT did not oppose government initiatives to stimulate the economy but emphasized the need to target assistance to specific struggling groups, ensuring cost-effectiveness and budget efficiency. -819 (TNA)