Finance Ministry boasts positive feedback of “Eat, Shop, Spend” handout program or Bt1,000 cash giveaway, saying that more than 1 million people have signed up to participate in the program on the first day that the government accepts the online registration.
Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana said the registration result on September 23 was better than expected.
It was reported that despite small glitches earlier in the day, more than 1 million people have signed up shortly before 2 p.m. on Monday. The government would limit the registration at 1 million per day.
Uttama said that the government will not increase the number of recipients from the target of 10 million.
On the merchant side, Uttama said that he has ordered an extension of registration for participating shops, even though the initial deadline for receiving the registration from merchants expired on September 20 to ensure that there are enough participating merchants to meet the demand of customers.
The Bt1,000 cash giveaway or “Eat, Shop and Spend” is part of the 316-billion-baht stimulus package that the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha government initiated to boost domestic spending with an aim to lift the country’s economic growth by 0.5 percentage points this year.
The Finance Ministry has prepared a budget of Bt19-20 billion to finance the program to encourage people to spend and travel outside their home provinces. In addition to Bt1,000 allowance, the government offers 15 percent cash rebate but not more than Bt4,500 per person on tourism-related spending with participating merchants.
He added that around 150,000 merchants which have signed up to participate in the program after the registration for shops was opened from August 28-September 20. Participating shops must download the Krungthai Bank’s “Tung Ngern” app to receive payments.
