More than 70 billion baht, of a combination of funding from the government and consumer’s own money, has been spent under three economic stimulus projects, rolled out by the government to increase the purchasing power of consumers,which came to an end at the end of April, according to Pornchai Thiraveja, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office and spokesman for the Finance Ministry.

The projects were the 4th phase of the 50:50 co-payment scheme, the 4th phase of the scheme to increase the purchasing power of 13.37 million state welfare card holders and the 2nd phase of the scheme to increase the purchasing power of 1.31 million people classified as needing special help.

Spending from the 4th phase of the co-payment scheme among 26.27 million people who joined the scheme, including 25.46 million who have joined the 3rd phase, amounts to about 60 billion baht, about half of them are state contributions. About 1.36 million business entrepreneurs have joined the scheme, including about 29,800 who only joined the 4th phase of the scheme.

The 61 billion baht has been shared by various groups of entrepreneurs, among them:

-Eateries and shops which sell drinks, about 25.7 billion baht

-Thong Fah (Blue Flag) shops, about 10.7 billion baht

-OTOP shops, about 2.8 billion baht

-General stores, about 21 billion baht

-Service shops, about 1.1 billion baht

-Public transport, 117 million baht

-Food delivery platforms, about 1.8 billion baht

About 94,900 eateries sold food and drinks via the food delivery platforms during the active periods of the various schemes.

Spending in the 4th phase of the project to boost purchasing power of 13.37 million state welfare card-holders amounts to about 7.9 billion baht, while spending of the 1.31 million who need special help totalled about 704 million baht.