Thai prime minister unveils details of a $13.5 billion digital money handout plan

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has revealed details of his government’s plan to stimulate the economy by giving digital cash handouts of 10,000 baht ($275) to an estimated qualifying 50 million Thais for spending at their local businesses. Srettha said Wednesday that the 500-billion-baht ($13.75-billion) plan, to be mostly funded out of the 2024 and 2025 fiscal budgets, will be rolled out in the last quarter of the year. The stimulus and subsequent consumption are expected to boost gross domestic product growth by 1.2 to 1.6 percentage points. Another portion of the funding will come from the state’s Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, earmarked for covering payouts to about 17 million farmers.