Thai Council of State advises against digital wallet programme, The Nation reports

BANGKOK: Thailand’s Office of the Council of State will offer a legal opinion that Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s government cannot finance a 500-billion baht (US$14.4 billion) digital wallet program through the legislating of a bill, The Nation reported.

The government should enact an executive decree instead of a bill to borrow that amount of funds if the need to stimulate the economy is urgent, the paper said, citing an unidentified source at the Council of State. A bill would take months to implement, suggesting the economic situation is not dire, according to the report.

Srettha previously said the Thai economy is in crisis and needs a boost to end a cycle of low single-digit growth. The digital cash handout, seen as a major stimulus to bolster growth, aims to distribute 10,000 baht each to about 50 million Thais as a one-time measure to spur consumption and business activities.

The Council of State provides legal advice to the government and state agencies.

Such massive borrowing could be a violation of Article 140 of the Constitution, the paper cited the source as saying. Article 140 requires the government to offset any loan it seeks outside the budget bill by providing an allocation in the next one.

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