An estimated 51 billion baht is forecast to be spent during the Chinese New Year festival next week, thanks to the distribution of 40 billion baht to four million Thais who are 60 and over, under the second phase of the “digital wallet” scheme, and the Easy e-Receipt tax deduction program.
Thanawat Pholvichai, rector of the University of Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) and advisory chairman of the Economic and Business Forecast Centre at the university, said today that the estimated spending is an increase of 4.5% over last year and will be highest since the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the Easy e-Receipt program, which allows consumers deduct certain spending from their taxable income, will encourage more spending than usual, which will help the economy.
Commenting on the recent trafficking of Chinese actor Wang Xing from Thailand to Myanmar, Thanawat claims that the incident will have little and only short-term impact on the Thai tourism industry, causing damage estimated at no more than 14 billion baht, resulting in a drop in GDP of only 0.01%.
Meanwhile, Umakamol Suntornsurat, assistant director of the Economic and Business Forecast Centre, said that a recent survey of consumer spending during the Chinese New Year festival shows that most will spend on products and tourism, both domestically and overseas.
