Thailand’s plan to provide citizens with a digital currency under its economic recovery plan has stalled, with government officials calling for the start date to be postponed.
Originally scheduled for early 2024, Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amolunvivat said: disclosed It will take time to develop a secure system for the proposed plan. Amorumbivat added that the Ministry of Finance is confident of resolving the outstanding parts by the end of the first quarter of 2024.
“The Prime Minister has instructed us to have the funds ready to be distributed by February 1st, but we are prepared to tell the Prime Minister that this is not possible as it will take time to develop a stable and secure system,” Amorumbivat said. he said. “You can’t trade systems for time.”
In the run-up to the last general election, Thailand’s new government led by Sureta Thabisin announced an ambitious plan to give each citizen over the age of 16 10,000 baht (US$285) through a digital wallet. Recipients of the funds will be restricted to spending the total amount within a 4km radius of their primary residence within six months.
The initiative is expected to cost the government up to 548 billion baht (US$15 billion), but lawmakers from the ruling Thailand Contribution Party say the industry could boost the country’s GDP by up to 5% in a year. It is claimed that there is a sex. The Bank of Thailand has taken a safer stance by raising interest rates by 3%, but has said it will release its final economic forecast in the coming weeks.
Apart from the need to establish a strong security system, the government is still struggling with the source of funding for the project. Amorumbivat said a cabinet subcommittee is exploring sources of funding for the project, including possible borrowing and tax increases.
Critics have since poked holes in the plan over the risk of increasing public debt to fund it. In a petition to the State Audit Office (SAO), former senator Rosana Rositrakul points out that the plan violates the Fiscal Discipline Act and engages in debt concealment, explaining the legality of the plan and the theory behind it. We asked the authorities to investigate the basis for this.
“The 10,000 baht digital wallet scheme can be compared to the Yingluck Shinawatra government’s rice pledge scheme, where several ministers were jailed,” Rositrakul said. “As a taxpayer, I am fulfilling my public duty to ask the relevant authorities to consider this issue.”
Given these concerns, some speculate that the government may tweak the program to target only poorer citizens to cut costs.
A ray of hope for digital asset companies
In the wake of the Three Arrows Capital (3AC), Celsius, and Zipmex bombings, Thai authorities took a decisive action against the local digital currency industry. A new wave of regulations banned service providers from offering staking and lending services, while some companies were required to disclose all digital asset promotions.
As the impact of the implosion eases, Thailand announced plans to waive up to $1 billion in taxes on investment tokens to encourage growth in the sector. The government’s plan to look to blockchain as a new economic initiative is being interpreted as a harbinger of brighter days for the sector.
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