The government will ask the Council of State to verify the legality of its plan to borrow 172.3 billion baht from the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperative to partially finance its 500-billion-baht digital wallet handout scheme.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the government will seek advice from its legal arm to ensure the scheme proceeds in line with the law.
Asked about the plan to create a super app for the scheme, which would require more taxpayers' money to develop, Mr Srettha, also the finance minister, said the government would explain the situation to the public when the app is ready.
The government will ensure the scheme is carried out transparently and is open to public scrutiny, he said.
The 10,000 baht is due to be distributed to every eligible person via "a super app" created by the Digital Economy and Society Ministry. It can be used by all banks in an open-loop model.
Mr Srettha said earlier the scheme will roll out in the fourth quarter to jolt the sluggish economy back to life.
The ruling Pheu Thai Party's flagship policy will transfer 10,000 baht to 50 million Thais to spend in their localities within six months.
Mr Srettha, who doubles as the finance minister, said the policy would push GDP up by 1.2 to 1.6 percentage points.
Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat said the digital wallet scheme will be financed by three sources of funding.
A total of 152.7 billion baht will be drawn from the budget for the 2025 fiscal year, while another 172.3 billion baht will be borrowed from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives' (BAAC) budget for the 2025 fiscal year under Section 28 of the State Fiscal and Financial Disciplines Act. This amount will be given to 17.23 million farmers.
The other 175 billion baht will come from the reallocation of the budget in the current fiscal year, Mr Julapun said.
Those eligible can register for the handout in the third quarter and spend it in the last three months of this year, he said.
However, critics have taken aim at the plan to borrow from the BAAC. The BAAC will pay those who are eligible first, and the government will repay the bank later.
Jurin Laksanawisit, a Democrat Party list MP, said the BAAC loan is effectively a repeat of what transpired during Pheu Thai's loss-ridden rice-pledging programme under the former Yingluck Shinawatra administration.
"This is an exact replica of the rice-pledging scheme. They share the same DNA," Mr Jurin said.
"The government will now borrow 172.3 billion from the BAAC. Combined with the more than 200 billion baht debt incurred by the rice scheme, the (Pheu Thai-run governments) will owe the BAAC about 400 billion baht."
"The government cannot explain how it will repay the loan it plans to take from the BAAC to fund the digital wallet scheme," Mr Jurin said.
Nipon Poapongsakorn, a distinguished fellow at the Thailand Development Research Institute, echoed similar sentiments. He urged the government to provide details regarding how it will repay the bank.
"This policy is intended to achieve political gain ahead of the next election. Currently, the economy is not in a crisis. Exports, domestic consumption and tourism have improved, adding that the 500-billion-baht handout is only a short-term measure."
