The Cabinet has approved reductions in monthly social security contributions for both employers and employees as part of a 70 billion baht package of measures to help mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices.
Monthly Social Security Fund contributions for salaried employees covered under Section 33 of the Social Security Act will be reduced from 5% to 1% from May to July, while payments for former employees covered under Section 39 will be lowered from 9% to 1.9% during the same period.
Non-mainstream, “independent” workers engaged in small-scale trading, such as vendors and farmers, who are covered by Section 40, will see their monthly contributions reduced to between 42 and 180 baht.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said a slew of additional measures have been approved to offset higher fuel prices exacerbated by the economic fallout of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. They include increasing cooking gas subsidies from 45 to 100 baht per month for 3.6 million holders of state welfare cards and providing a monthly 100-baht discount to 5,500 vendors and hawkers who hold state welfare cards.
Gasohol costs will be reduced by 250 baht per month for 157,000 working motorcycle drivers registered with the Department of Land Transport. The retail price of natural gas for vehicles will remain at 15.59 baht per kilogram, while metered taxi drivers participating in the Breathe Together project will pay 13.62 baht per kilogram.
The Prime Minister announced that those who consume less than 300 units of electricity per month will see their fuel tariffs reduced by 22 satangs between May and August, while the retail price of diesel will be capped at 30 baht per liter until the end of April.
According to Government Spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, the Prime Minister also tasked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with overseeing the importation of fertilizers and animal feed to assist farmers ahead of the harvest season. (NNT)
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