Four likely scenarios for the digital wallet scheme under new PM
Will Paetongtarn go ahead as scheduled, downsize or scrap the proposed scheme?
Political analysts have been pondering about the future of the government’s digital wallet scheme after Srettha Thavisin was removed as prime minister on Wednesday by the Constitutional Court due to lack of integrity.
The scheme is the flagship election promise of the ruling Pheu Thai Party. Under the scheme Thai citizens aged 16 years and above, whose annual income is less than 840,000 per annum and do not have 500,000 baht in bank deposits, will receive 10,000 baht per person as a digital handout to spend at local businesses. The move is estimated to boost domestic spending and improve the country’s sluggish economy.
After Parliament elected Pheu Thai leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the new PM on Friday, Krungthep Turakij newspaper laid out four possible scenarios for the 450-billion-baht scheme under the administration of the new leader and the new Cabinet.
In the first scenario, the scheme will be implemented as scheduled: registration of recipients will continue on Thang Rath application until the end of September, and registration of participation shops will start in October.
People can start buying goods and services from shops that have joined the scheme in the fourth quarter of the year.
So far about 30 million people have registered on the application, which will be used to distribute the money.
The business daily said that in the second scenario, the digital wallet scheme could move forward but on a reduced scale to free up the proposed budget for new investment projects.
One approach to achieve this would be to limit the recipients to only those below the poverty line and in vulnerable groups – estimated at 20-25 million people. Funding of the scheme would cost less than 250 billion baht. This approach would be in alignment with the suggestion of the Bank of Thailand.
The third scenario will see the scheme being postponed, but not cancelled or downsized. This move will allow related authorities to finish developing a payment platform on the Thang Rath application, which will use an open loop system to link with commercial and state-run banks. The compact and trouble-free platform would also help restore people’s confidence in the government and its proposed projects, which is what the new government needs, said Krungthep Turakij.
In the final scenario, the digital wallet scheme will be scrapped or replaced by other schemes that are less expensive and controversial. The newspaper said that Pheu Thai might consider taking this path as it is becoming more careful about legal repercussions from proposed policies, in a bid to avoid making similar mistakes as Srettha, who was ousted after he had appointed an ex-convict as a minister.
However, the new government would need a good reason to convince the public on why it decided to turn its back on an election promise, Krungthep Turakij said.
