In February and March, Thailand's Cabinet agreed to introduce a series of urgent relief initiatives to aid the public and SMEs by improving liquidity, increasing unemployment benefits, and reducing the cost of living by reducing electricity and water bills.
For the first 90 units in the months of February and March, households that use less than 150 units of electricity will not be charged. Discounted rates will be paid to those over 150 units, in compliance with conditions yet to be announced. The first 50 units of electricity would be free of charge for small businesses.
A flat 5 per cent discount will be offered to all households and small businesses for water fees, with the exception of government and state businesses.
In favour of individuals needing to operate from home, the government would also ask internet service providers to decrease rates and increase link speeds.
The announcement was made via a Facebook page for the prime minister. It said the government would finalize more subsidies by the end of this month, which would support those who are financially struggling.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the government still has enough resources to take care of the economic problems emerging from the latest COVID-19 outbreak. In order to revive the economy and relieve a society affected by COVID-19, the finance ministry is allowed to spend 1 trillion baht. Just 500 billion has been invested so far.
Prayut vowed the government would spend the money of the taxpayers efficiently and in a timely manner.
He asked the public to be sure that the new outbreak could be handled by the government. When the first wave struck last year, he said Thailand had little experience or expertise, but they still did very well. This time around, Thailand will be able to survive the crisis with the resources of public health officials and, most importantly, with everybody's cooperation.
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