New subsidies to relieve cooking gas, benzene expenses hit snag

On Monday, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said the ministry is considering which budget to use to raise the cooking gas subsidy from Bt45 to Bt100 for state welfare cardholders.

"We have to add cash to the Community Welfare Fund to top up state welfare cards, so we have to wait for the Energy Ministry to tell us how much we have to spend," Arkhom said.

He said the Energy Ministry was responsible for calculating this, as well as the number of motorcycle taxi drivers affected by rising benzene fuel prices.

Cash for the fuel subsidies will probably have to come from the central budget as they fell outside of the ministry’s Bt500 billion loan objectives, he said.

Arkhom added that the ministry would not be able to propose this issue to the Cabinet at today’s weekly meeting.

Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister Santi Promphat said the ministry is ready to relieve expense burdens on vulnerable citizens if the government agrees to help as the ministry has budget to support the move.