Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin admitted that the general public and Pheu Thai party were worried about the government’s 500 billion baht loan bill to fund the controversial digital wallet scheme, saying that he would wait for the ruling from the Council of State.
In his interview from San Francisco on Wednesday, Mr Srettha who is also Finance Minister said that his Pheu Thai party prepared a Plan B to enable the government to implement the digital wallet scheme, in the event the government’s 500 billion baht loan bill to fund the scheme is ruled unconstitutional by the Council of State.
He said that not only Pheu Thai party but the people in provinces who suffered chronic financial problems were also worried that how the scheme would be implemented.
Mr Srettha said he earlier said that the Thai economy is in crisis and, therefore, it is absolutely necessary that a huge amount of money be injected into the system to stimulate it. He cited the digital wallet scheme as the necessary policy that the government would push and he was positive that the plan would be materialized.
The opposition Move Forward Party leader Chaithawat Tulathon made earlier comments that his party has no objection to the scheme but if the government wanted to go ahead with the plan, he said, the government should have back up plan if the Council of State rules that the loan bill is unconstitutional.
Mr Srettha declined to elaborate on the backup plan but he said that the government has developed several measures to stimulate the economy but today the focus was on the digital wallet scheme.
He said the government has clear cut steps but it was waiting for the ruling from the Council of State and would propose a bill to Parliament for approval.
Deputy Minister of Finance Julapun Amornvivat said on Wednesday before the meeting with the Parliamentary Committee on Monetary Affairs, Finance, Financial Institutions, and Financial Market that at the moment, there were many people express worry about the loan bill to fund the scheme.
He said that this was considered a good sign that it was attentive scheme so that the processes should be carried out carefully, concise and in accordance with the law. (TNA)
