Poor to get B19bn cash handouts

The Finance Ministry expects to complete the payment of 19 billion baht in cash handouts to low-income earners who registered for the government’s welfare scheme through the national e-payment system by the end of this month.

The one-time cash giveaway kicked off yesterday through three banks, said Pornchai Thiraveja, deputy director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office.

The three banks are Krungthai Bank, the Government Savings Bank (GSB) and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.

The handouts are aimed at putting money into the pockets of those at the bottom rung of the economic ladder to help cover their living costs amid a stuttering economy.

Under the scheme, those earning up to 30,000 baht a year are entitled to 3,000 baht per person, and those earning more than 30,000 but less than 100,000 baht a year are entitled to 1,500 baht.

Payment was delayed from Dec 1 to yesterday as the Finance Ministry wanted to re-check to ensure the 8.3 million people who registered for the scheme are qualified following complaints that some of the registrants own highly-valued assets.

GSB president Chatchai Payuhanaveechai said 200,000 of 2.5 million people who registered for the handout at the bank failed to meet the qualifications as they have higher annual income than is allowed or they registered at more than one bank.

He said 800,000 qualified recipients will be paid in the first batch as they have already linked their savings accounts at GSB when they signed up for the scheme via the national e-payment initiative.

The others are required to open GSB savings accounts before getting paid.

The government plans to distribute welfare and subsidies through the national e-payment system to offer direct assistance to targeted groups to alleviate their fiscal burdens instead of offering blanket aid as in the past.