Expect second round of Bt5,000 handouts after May 8: Finance Ministry

[webfact]

Expect second round of Bt5,000 handouts after May 8: Finance Ministry

By The Nation

 

Patricia Monkhonvanit

 

The second round of cash handouts will begin in early May, assures the Finance Ministry as it is getting ready to borrow money to finance the aid package.

 

Those who received the first Bt5,000 this month will receive another Bt5,000 in early May. Also, the number of people eligible for this aid has been expanded from 9 million to 14 million. 

 

Authorised by an emergency decree to borrow Bt1 trillion to help businesses and people affected by the Covid-19 fallout, the Finance Ministry will borrow the first batch of Bt70 billion in May, Patricia Monkhonvanit, director general of the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO), said.

 

The ministry will issue a promissory note with four years of maturity, and the PDMO on April 29 will invite commercial banks to bid for it. The bank that bids the lowest interest rate will win. 

 

The estimated interest rate is expected to be slightly higher than the BIBOR (Bangkok Interbank Offered Rate) or above 0.98 per cent, she said. 

The Finance Ministry expects to get the money from commercial banks by May 5 and will be able to put Bt5,000 in the accounts of eligible people from May 8, she said. 

 

On the edge

 

The country’s public debt is approaching critical level.

 

Owing to the impact of the novel coronavirus, the Finance Ministry will have to borrow more this year and the next than it previously planned. 

 

Under the Bt1-trillion loan scheme, the ministry will borrow Bt600 billion in this fiscal year and Bt400 billion in the next.

 

Initially, the ministry only planned to borrow Bt894 billion to cover the budget deficit in the 2020 fiscal year, so with this extra obligation, its total borrowing for this year will stand at about Bt1.5 trillion.  

 

In order to deal with this burden, the Finance Ministry is planning to issue savings bonds worth Bt20 billion to Bt25 billion to raise funds from individual investors. The ministry will also raise 80 per cent of the funds domestically via both short- and long-term ventures, while the rest will come from overseas sources. 

 

This extra borrowing will push Thailand’s public debt to 51.84 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) this year up from the current 41 per cent, while new borrowings next year will increase the public debt to the tune of 57.96 per cent of GDP. 

 

The public debt is approaching a prudential public debt ratio of 60 per cent of the GDP. This debt estimation is based on an assumption that the economy will contract 5.3 per cent this year and grow 3 per cent next year.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30386581

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-04-23

 

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[kevin612]

I am looking forward for my second round from the USA as well, hopefully congress will pass the proposal next month.

[fishtank]

How about paying out the first round before lying about the second round.

Unbelievable. Do Thais really believe this BS.

[Olmate]

I would like to hear from the expert financial advisors on here that have previously told us how strong the Thai economy , banking system is! Plenty of them around on topics such as 800k security etc?

[OnTheGround]

Food hand out increase daily around the country.

24-29(?) million people applied for 5k handout.

First only 1,6 millions received the 5k.

Now they report from 9 to 14 million eligible.

 

For many who already starve and sold whatever they could, they need the handout now.

[fondue zoo]

Will this affect the strength of the baht overall? Bearing in mind some of its strength is a reflection of the battering foreign currencies/markets have taken of late.

[Kullstar]

Won't devalue the baht though will you? 

[Matzzon]

2 hours ago, kevin612 said:

I am looking forward for my second round from the USA as well, hopefully congress will pass the proposal next month.

It´s just to congratulate you. If you are living in Thailand as a retired pension with pension, it´s amazing that the US actually pay out to people not economically affected. Still a good thing though. Can never get too much money, right? ???? 

[Olmate]

19 minutes ago, Matzzon said:

It´s just to congratulate you. If you are living in Thailand as a retired pension with pension, it´s amazing that the US actually pay out to people not economically affected. Still a good thing though. Can never get too much money, right? ???? 

Most folk still have some form of liabilities back home and are effected just the same for eg  dividends,super funds,help for relatives out of work and so on. Guess you cut your ties to home !

[The Barmbeker]

1st round was paid out???

Not to the jobless people I know and who have applyed weeks ago!

[OneeyedJohn]

My wife and I know of only one person in our village of over 300 houses getting a 5K payment.

We are surrounded by rice paddies, so I'm guessing most everyone is classified ( wrongly ) as farmers.

[Matzzon]

1 hour ago, Olmate said:

Most folk still have some form of liabilities back home and are effected just the same for eg  dividends,super funds,help for relatives out of work and so on. Guess you cut your ties to home !

No, I´ve only seen to that I am a big boy that eliminate the possibilities of liabilities.

[Hayduke]

6 hours ago, Kullstar said:

Won't devalue the baht though will you? 

 

There are still hundreds of generals who haven’t yet had time to exchange their astronomical stockpiles of Baht for Euros, UK Pounds and US Dollars. Be patient, the poor fellows have been so busy lately...they'll get around to that devalue thing as soon as they have time.

 

 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Hayduke

[DLock]

6 hours ago, Kullstar said:

Won't devalue the baht though will you? 

 

How will that help the struggling Thais who have no money for food?

 

Suprisingly, It's not all about you.

[spidermike007]

And shall we expect a rejection rate of over 80% again, or are you guys now serious about helping out your poorest souls?

[Olmate]

4 hours ago, Matzzon said:

No, I´ve only seen to that I am a big boy that eliminate the possibilities of liabilities.

Ahhh ,love the big boy bit!

[dunroaming]

9 hours ago, fishtank said:

How about paying out the first round before lying about the second round.

Unbelievable. Do Thais really believe this BS.

My mother in law has had two payments so far and her friends and neighbours the same.  Easy to claim as all you need is a telephone and bank account which is simple to open for those who don't have one.

[ronaldo0]

All staff in my friends bar were approved after they applied and not one has been paid yet the first time ! 

[flexomike]

8 hours ago, Matzzon said:

It´s just to congratulate you. If you are living in Thailand as a retired pension with pension, it´s amazing that the US actually pay out to people not economically affected. Still a good thing though. Can never get too much money, right? ???? 

everyone who has any stock investments is economically affected

 

[Matzzon]

1 hour ago, flexomike said:

everyone who has any stock investments is economically affected

 

Then you can not be considered a person in need of help, if you already have money that you can play with. Therefore help should not be given. Help should be given to the poor, not to the ones that have put themself in a position that created to many variables and liabilities. The first rule of investment. Never invest more than you can afford to lose and still live a comfortable life.

The people that are economically affected so much that they have such hard time so they need economical help because of losses in their investments. Yeah, they should never have entered that world because they know entirely too little about it.

Edited April 23, 2020 by Matzzon

[dunroaming]

2 hours ago, ronaldo0 said:

All staff in my friends bar were approved after they applied and not one has been paid yet the first time ! 

Maybe depends are where you are.  The people my wife knows who have received their money are in Phitsanulok, Nakhon Sawan and Chiang Mai.

[connda]

So, special people get more money and average people can't eat rice stubble along side their field oxen and buffaloes.  Special.

[hotchilli]

23 hours ago, webfact said:

The second round of cash handouts will begin in early May, assures the Finance Ministry as it is getting ready to borrow money to finance the aid package.

Weren't we told recently the welfare department was flush with a trillion baht or so as unemployment benefit payments had been low for years?

[crutchy26]

For weeks, my GF intimated that farmers were to be paid, first. Then, the info (truth) started unravelling. Smoke, strings & mirrors & lots of rejections. 

So many have lost their income streams. Factories sealed-up, nothing moving. Little shops boarded-up. Very little money moving around. BECAUSE THE THAIS HAVE NOT GOT IT TO SPEND!

In case you are living in a vacuum, look at any large Tesco, Big C, etc. Only the well-heeled doing any grocery shopping.

And, the locals just follow along..................

Good to see our 'visiting class' helping-out the needy. I have supplied food and money to 2 caddies & family near Yang Talat.

Well, that's my 2 cents worth.