Parliament, "Sirikanya" asks to know about the digital wallet plan, whether convenience stores are classified as small shops or not. Ask the government to not postpone it again until the 4th quarter, recommend sending a decree to consider the law. BAAC before giving out money Afraid of the wrong purpose Ms. Sirikanya Tansakul, list of MPs and Deputy Leader of the Progressive Party Giving an interview after the Prime Minister announced the digital wallet policy, he now understands that budget office officials do not have Songkran holidays. As for the budget for 2024, there was time to prepare and prepare, but nothing was prepared at all. In the end, it is likely that the budget will have to be transferred and increased to the Pracharat Fund for Welfare. and distributed through state welfare cards And there is also the problem that the state welfare card is normally paid through the national ID card. But this time it will be used as OPEN LOOP, meaning you can use it anywhere. But normally, you have to withdra w money using your ID card at an ATM only. And must also be used only through stores that have state welfare card machines. It is still a problem with the system. To be able to use the money Miss Sirikanya Said that he wanted to leave it to the government that when it is confirmed that the 4th quarter will definitely not be postponed I want to see the whole plan. It's not just a matter of finding all the sources. Whether it is to issue a draft law Annual additional expenditure budget When will it be done? And the council is waiting. whether to approve or not and how And there is also the matter of system development. which has been confirmed that It is not a Paotang application, but a new app has been made by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. with the Digital Government Office I am the one who prepared it. When will it be finished? Because the system creation process requires testing the system before it can actually be used. Because if you actually use it, many errors will occur. It will affect p ublic confidence as well. Miss Sirikanya Still said that the details of spending have been revised in a good way. In specifying that the first round will be used for small shops only. However, we still haven't heard clearly from small stores that they agree to convenience stores. Is it a small shop? Because the mechanism is quite complicated to exchange for cash, it takes 2 rounds before it can be exchanged for cash. The stores that can be exchanged can only be exchanged in the tax base. It may cause real small shops to not want to join the project. Or participate in fewer projects? Because once redeemed, it still cannot be exchanged for cash. I have to continue spending. But the money has to be turned over daily. There will be difficulties for small shops. And if in the end, only a small number of small traders join the project. The project's objective to create a more circular economy at the grassroots level is also a matter of concern. But today we still don't have any additional details. You will have to wait for the next appointment to get more information. But it is considered to listen to opinions from the public, the opposition, and the media in order to adjust the matter of small shops participating in the project. When asked if the Governor of the Bank of Thailand did not attend the Digital Wallet main board meeting twice, does it have any meaning? Ms. Sirikanya said that actually she was busy with the Monetary Policy Committee meeting. It is understood that there were representatives attending the meeting. and understand that the committee will likely reach a resolution based on comprehensive opinions from all relevant agencies When asked about the digital project Wallets can boost GDP And is the economy really possible? Ms. Sirikanya said that from what the government had predicted. that it will increase approximately 1.2-1.8 and the forecast for 2025, on a normal base model, should grow approximately 3.3, which means that the economy in 2025, if there is a digital wallet, should grow approximately 3.5-4.1, which is a matter that must be It is the government's responsibility whether it can be as expected or not. Because many people will estimate it to be around 0.9-1 percent. But what we are more worried about is that the government promised that GDP must grow at an average of 5 percent over the next 4 years, but in the year in which the budget was invested the most, the growth was only 5.1 percent, and then the remaining years. If there is no money left to do other things, what will happen? And the issue that will result is public debt. Now, only with the expansion of the budget in 2025, the public debt has already risen to approximately 67 percent. and the interest burden paid each year rose to 11 percent of income. It means that no matter how much tax is collected, it will already be used to pay interest. Not counting that in 2024, you will have to borrow more. 'So it is a major bottleneck. that the government must bow its head to accept And the sooner you use it, the better. The more money goes int o other parts of the budget. go for a while longer The next government will have to bear the burden of debt at their throats. Just a little more and it will hit the ceiling at 70 percent. This is only public borrowing from the 2024 budget and 2025 budget, not including loans from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), which are not actually in the public debt. But in the end, you still have to use the budget to repay the debt. Therefore, in addition to stimulating the economy There is also the matter of hidden burdens. After doing the digital wallet project,' Ms. Sirikanya said. When asked what do you think about the government's real estate stimulus policy? Ms. Sirikanya said that normally this policy It's not a new policy. Which we have done many times, wanting to stimulate the real estate sector to move forward. But this time, what's strange is the matter of reducing transfer fees. Previously, the transfer fee was reduced only for houses priced no more than 3 million baht, but toda y it has been extended to 7 million baht. This is because there is quite a lot of outstanding stock, with 46 percent unsold. Therefore, it is worth noting that In the end, what exactly will this project be for? So that people with low incomes can have more access to housing. Or is it just stimulating the real estate sector? In order to enable companies in this sector to continue doing business. And it is inevitable that there will definitely be questions about the Prime Minister's conflicts of interest. The important issue is fees through various transfers. This is money that must be forwarded to the local government organization. And this time, because it was extended to 7 million baht, it resulted in a loss of 23 billion baht in fees, meaning that the local government lost that amount. Therefore, I would like this government to change its methods. During the government of Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha, they did this. 'It is like taking money from the local government organization to subsidize the real estate sect or, and this time if it is good, the government must set up money to compensate the local government organization for the lost fees as well. Otherwise, it would be unfair to the local government organization whose income would suddenly disappear. Last time, the land tax was still not fully refunded. This time, we will reduce the transfer fee again. Definitely causing him trouble,' Ms. Sirikanya said. When asked whether the state has the authority to use the BAAC's money and whether it is in line with fiscal discipline or not, he said that there are still legal issues regarding the BAAC. Because according to the purpose of BAAC specified by law It can be done to help farmers increase their production. Reduce expenses But there is no objective that will improve the quality of life of farmers. By distributing digital wallets At this time, it is still an issue whether the Council of State must be sent to give an interpretation similar to the Government Savings Bank case or not. But there is a gray area that can be interpreted in favor of the government. Most importantly, what should we do to have money to spend to the fullest extent? Because the BAAC still adheres to the criteria of the fiscal and monetary discipline framework. The government has repeated this many times. that there is definitely no expansion We have to wait and see which project will go first. Because of the suspension of debt, will farmers continue until the 3-year period is up or not? Or will the 1,000 baht per rai project still be able to move forward? This is also a concern regarding the use of BAAC funds. When asked what action the opposition will take besides waiting for the government to ask for a decree. Ms. Sirikanya said that she is not sure whether the government is still asking about the decree or not. We will help push again and say that it's straight and take a good look. or need to fix The BAAC Act must be completed first. If the government will issue The 2024 Central Budget Act was slightly revised to provide peace of mind and allo w the BAAC not to worry about bringing money to digital wallets to use as well. This is enough twist to make it a digital wallet project specifically for farmers. In order to pay only to farmers, having to find 17 million people is tiring. Various regulations and laws should also be completed as well. Source: Thai News Agency
Tuesday, September 17, 2024