[BANGKOK] The Thai government will spend US$1.4 billion on a consumer subsidy programme and will roll out other stimulus measures to try to spark a sluggish economy and lift growth above 2.2 per cent this year, the finance minister said on Tuesday (Oct 7).
After Cabinet approved a 44 billion baht (S$1.7 billion) “co-payment” scheme to subsidise up to 60 per cent of the cost of some food and consumer goods for an estimated 20 million people, Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said there will be weekly stimulus measures until the end of the year.
“We’ll try to achieve more than 2.2 per cent” growth this year, he told reporters. That compares with last year’s 2.5 per cent growth, which had lagged regional peers. South-east Asia’s second-largest economy has been hit by US tariffs, high household debt, weak consumption, and a strong currency.
The central bank has forecast growth of 2.3 per cent this year. It will review the projection at a policy meeting on Wednesday, when the market expects it to cut interest rates.
The co-payment scheme will run from Oct 29 to Dec 31 and will also support smaller businesses and strengthen the tax system, Ekniti said, adding that the government did not need to borrow money to fund the stimulus.
“The project is an engine to keep the Thai economy from getting stuck in the fourth quarter,” he noted, adding that he expected growth of at least 1 per cent in the final quarter of 2025.
Previously, he had said he expected the scheme and other stimulus measures to boost fourth-quarter growth to more than 1 per cent, up from the previously expected 0.3 per cent.
Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s new government has a limited window to implement its measures, with the premier planning to dissolve parliament by the end of January with a general election to be held in March or early April.
Thailand’s benchmark index was up 1.7 per cent in afternoon trade.
