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Southeast Asia's second-largest economy suffered its biggest
shrinkage in more than two decades in the second quarter as the
coronavirus outbreak froze tourism and slowed consumption.
The new projects aim to boost rural incomes by developing farm
technology, creating community products and promoting tourism,
with plans to hire 69,000 students for government programmes,
said Danucha Pichayanan, deputy head of the National Economic
and Social Development Council.
"We are considering 3-4 projects worth about 20 billion to 30
billion baht," he told a briefing, adding the projects would be
proposed to cabinet on Tuesday.
They will be financed by the government's 1 trillion baht of
borrowing - 400 billion baht for reviving the economy and 600
billion baht for relief and health measures - as it tries to
mitigate the impact of the virus, which has infected just over
3,400 people locally.
Under the 400 billion baht plan, about 45 billion in projects
have been approved and should add about 100,000 jobs, said
planning agency head Thosaporn Sirisumphand.
"But we don't want to spend the money all at once because we
have to live with COVID-19 for at least a year," he said.
However, the government is working on a new stimulus package,
Thosaporn said, including plans approved on Tuesday to help pay
for hiring 260,000 graduates.
On relief measures, the government has spent about 300 billion
baht to help businesses and households.
Thailand's tourism-reliant economy is expected to contract by a
record 8.5% this year, with foreign tourist numbers seen at less
than a fifth of last year's nearly 40 million.
($1 = 31.37 baht)
(Refiles to add dropped word in headline)
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring and Satawasin Staporncharnchai;
Editing by Martin Petty)
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