Thailand’s Srettha delays digital money handout for 3 months

• The Thai government has decided to start its flagship 10,000 baht ($280) digital money handout in May next year, a three-month delay from the original target of February, as it needs more time to find ways to fund the populist project.
• According to Friday’s announcement, those earning more than 70,000 baht a month, or those with total bank deposits of more than 500,000 baht will also not qualify.
• As a result, the number of possible recipients has been cut from an expected 54.8 million to about 50 million, reducing the outlay by 48 billion baht to around 500 billion baht.
• Srettha said the money will be raised from loans, and that the government will ask parliament to pass an act allowing the government borrowings.
• Shares of Thailand’s retailers and home-furnishing companies rallied on the wallet announcement while bonds and currencies fell on concerns of fresh borrowing widening the fiscal deficit.

External Link : https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Thailand-s-Srettha-delays-digital-money-handout-for-3-months2