Thai Cabinet approves 1.9-trillion-baht economic stimulus package

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 Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

BANGKOK – The Thai Cabinet approves a 1.9 trillion-baht economic stimulus package to ease the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis.



Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha chaired the weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday to consider phase 3 of stimulus measures to cope with the coronavirus outbreak.

The main part of the package is a decree allowing the government to borrow 1 trillion baht to fund public health improvement efforts and stimulate the economy.

Other two decrees pave the way for the Bank of Thailand to provide 900 billion baht in soft loans and acquire corporate bonds.

Cabinet ministers also agreed to adjust budget allocations to best suit the current state of the economy and alleviate the Covid-19 impacts.  Each ministry plans to propose more budgets to fight the pandemic and cutback budgets that previously allocated for other areas.

The Ministry of Finance has proposed a tax exemption for imported equipment that will be used for Covid-19 prevention or diagnosis.

As of Tuesday, Thailand records 38 new coronavirus cases, totaling 2,258, and 27 deaths. (TNA)