Thailand election: Campaign freebies may be a ‘band-aid solution’ with fiscal risks

[webfact]

File photo

 

by Nyshka Chandran

● Thailand is preparing itself for a general election this month, and bread-and-butter issues — such as minimum wage, farm subsidies and welfare — will be top of voters’ minds.

● Most political parties are focusing their campaigns on giveaways like subsidies and tax exemptions — populist pledges that economists fear will derail the nation’s fiscal balance.

● A recent analysis by New Delhi think tank Observer Research Foundation described populist pledges as “a temporary band-aid solution that will provide limited respite to the debt-ridden citizens without incentivizing them to become self-reliant.”

 

Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy is still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic — though tourism has revived and unemployment is below 1%, the country faces a slew of problems. Energy and electricity bills are high; the number of employers is still below pre-pandemic levels; household debt levels are rising at an alarming pace; and annual per-capita income growth has been falling since 2018.

 

That’s why most political parties are focusing their campaigns on giveaways like subsidies and tax exemptions — populist pledges that economists fear will derail the nation’s fiscal balance.

 

 

That’s why most political parties are focusing their campaigns on giveaways like subsidies and tax exemptions — populist pledges that economists fear will derail the nation’s fiscal balance.

 

Contenders can be divided into two categories: parties that support the pro-military establishment and a pro-democracy camp of opposition factions.

 

Full story:  https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/09/thai-polls-economic-populism-takes-center-stage-in-upcoming-election.html

 

-- © Copyright CNBC 2023-05-09

 

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[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

A recent analysis by New Delhi think tank Observer Research Foundation described populist pledges as “a temporary band-aid solution that will provide limited respite to the debt-ridden citizens without incentivizing them to become self-reliant.”

Self reliant is all they got mate.