Government's economic stimulus projected to drive 3.5% growth in Thai economy

The government’s economic stimulus measures would help boost Thai economic growth by 3.5% this year, Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat made his speech in the seminar “Economic Drives 2025” by Post Today on Friday.

He pointed out that Thailand remained a developing country, with average economic growth dropping from 10% over the past 30 years to 2% over the past 10 years due to several factors, such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

He stressed that such growth is not enough to boost prosperity for people. The government has witnessed this issue, and we need to seek guidelines to address it, he said.

Julapun assured that Thai tourism is recovering, expecting more than 38.5 million foreign tourists to visit Thailand this year. He confirmed that tourism is the country’s main engine to stimulate the economy.

He also expects the free visa policy to attract travellers from China, India and Europe. Thai GDP will rise by 0.1% for every 500,000 foreign arrivals in the country, he added.

Additionally, he believes that private consumption, export and government investment will expand by 3.3%, 4.4% and 3.4% respectively.

These figures proved that the Thai economy is moving in the right direction under the government led by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, he said, adding that the economy has continued recovering since the government led by former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.

Julapun emphasised that the 10,000 cash handout scheme is crucial to stimulate the economy. The government has launched two phases of the scheme, with the third phase being launched in the second quarter of this year, he said.

He noted that the ministry’s subcommittee for reviewing economic stimulus projects has concluded the digital wallet handout, saying that it will be proposed to a committee chaired by the PM and the Cabinet for consideration.

We have discussed with financial institutions and non-banks to ensure connection with the Thang Rath smartphone application, as well as improving some conditions to facilitate people accessing cash handouts.

“We have provided 140 billion baht cash to vulnerable people in the third quarter of 2024 and another 30 billion baht to the elderly in early this year,” he explained.

“In the second quarter this year, we will provide 150 billion baht to people nationwide, which is a fairly large sum of money.”



He confirmed that the digital wallet handout scheme has achieved success in stimulating people’s spending, saying only 5% of the money was saved or spent for debt repayment.

The government also has other measures like Homes for Thais and investment acceleration, which could boost Thai economic growth from the expectation of 3% to 3.5%. 

The government is expected to see 5% economic growth in order to drive the economy to the appropriate level, he added.

Julapun asserted that the Finance Ministry and relevant agencies are monitoring the global economy closely to seek opportunities and cope with challenges, such as the US policy to increase tariffs on imported goods.

(2025/02/07-00:00)