Phase 2 of 10,000-baht handout may be paid in instalments

Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat admitted on Thursday that it remains uncertain whether the government will have enough money to distribute the second round of the 10,000-baht handout in one go.

Julapun said that if the budget were insufficient, the payment would need to be divided into two instalments of 5,000 baht each.

The second phase of the spending stimulus handout will use the digital wallet system, after the first-phase payment was remitted in cash to recipients’ bank accounts.

Julapun said a total of 36 million people have registered to receive the 10,000-baht handout. These included the 10 million first-phase recipients who fall into vulnerable groups of underprivileged and disabled.

That means that about 26 million registered individuals will receive the money in the second phase.

Once the current round of payments to the underprivileged and state welfare cardholders are completed on Monday, the government will register recipients without smartphones.

Julapun said the government expects a further 4 million underprivileged, who don’t have smartphones, to be registered to receive the money in the second phase.

However, whether these recipients will be paid in one go or in two instalments will depend on the financial situation. This will be clarified after the first meeting of the economic stimulus policy committee chaired by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Julapun said. The meeting has yet to be scheduled.

If the number of recipients did not exceed 26 million, the government would have enough money in its coffers to make a one-off payment, he said. But if a further 100 billion baht were needed, payment would be divided into two instalments.

The digital wallet scheme aims to inject 450 billion baht into the economy to achieve a projected 5% expansion. Other economic reform in the pipeline includes reskilling workers and restructuring industry with a focus on high technology and sustainability.