Bangkok, “Sirikanya” does not give a score to the government’s announcement of digital wallets, saying she was excited, stating that she did not expect it and was not disappointed, believing that it is highly possible that it will not be distributed in time for the 4th quarter, chasing after the budget to disburse in the next fiscal year, what kind of contract will be used, asking how much the tornado will make the economy grow, mocking that everything is still smooth and not stable, seeing it as possible that people register online first, which will increase the number of people buying mobile phones, but do not forget that you cannot buy mobile phones with digital wallets.
Ms. Sirikanya Tansakul, MP for the party list and deputy leader of the Move Forward Party, gave an interview after the government announced the digital wallet project that she had been following the announcement since morning, but there were very few new things. There were things she had never heard before, ‘just the registration day’, t
hat the general public who have smartphones can start registering from August 1 to September 15, while those who do not have smartphones will start from September 16. The shops have also postponed it until October. Apart from this information, there is nothing else that is clear, even though there have been inquiries from reporters.
Ms. Sirikanya said that the first thing she wanted to talk about was the impact on the economy. After the digital wallet storm, how much will the economy grow? Mr. Phao Phum Rojanasakul, Deputy Minister of Finance, came out to say that it could not be estimated because it is a project that has never happened before in the world. But from my observation in the 67 budget committee room, various agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, have already sent in reports on what will happen to the digital wallet. The Ministry of Finance has adjusted the target from the original 1.2-1.8% of GDP to 0.9% of GDP. The NESDB said that it will make the GDP of 67 and 68 grow by about 0.3%. The
Bank of Thailand said that 67 will be 0.3% and 68 will be 0.2%, including the 0.9% growth project. All 3 agencies have the same results, which is that it will definitely not stimulate 1% of GDP. It may be because of the adjustment of the target or the source of the money. When going back to spending money in the budget, the economic impact may not be significant enough.
Ms. Sirikanya said that the next issue that was not clear was the source of the money. Finally, she asked again, what exactly is budget management? The 2015 budget is quite large, at 132 billion baht. The reporter pressed on, what exactly is the management? But Mr. Chulaphan Amornvivat, Deputy Minister of Finance, did not give a clear answer, saying that anything is possible, whether it is issuing an additional budget like the 2014 budget or using the central budget, remaining budget. In the end, we still did not get a clear answer about the source of the money to be used for the project.
Ms. Sirikanya emphasized that she was the one who spo
ke about the legal issues in the debate on the additional budget for 2014, so she wanted to update everyone on what was being discussed in the committee meeting. This time, she went to observe, but she was not a committee member. In the room, there was a discussion about whether the additional budget would be the same as the general annual budget, which would set aside money and then be disbursed in the next year. It could be disbursed in 2015 if it could not be used up in 2014.
‘That day, a representative from the Council of State came out to give his opinion that it could be done because a legal relationship had occurred, similar to what Mr. Chulaphan said, that there was a proposal and response, which is considered a binding contract. But the point is that the committee on the Move Forward side asked what type of contract it was. How could it be called a contract when it was a binding contract in this form of reciprocity? It is not a contract that both parties must sign and agree to in order to avoid incu
rring debt, like when we buy something, hire-purchase, borrow money, or guarantee. There will be a contract between both parties that must be clearly signed. It turned out that no agency could answer what type of contract it was. It was like coming up with something new that has never happened in this country before. This is still an issue that we still have to monitor to see if it can be used across years. If it can’t be used, the additional budget that will have to be approved in the 2nd-3rd reading next week will probably have to be used up by September 30, 2024, which means we will have to use other methods to make a digital wallet,’ said Ms. Sirikanya.
Ms. Sirikanya continued that the next issue is the investment expenditure, which is still being debated as usual about how it can be 80% investment expenditure, even though the Fiscal Policy Office has tried its best to explain that it is really an investment expenditure. But from what we have seen, it comes from a lot of assumptions, not from facts or su
rvey results. At most, it will be only 50% investment expenditure. If we are going to set a target like that, we will have to look at the proportion again to see if it complies with the law or not. If the money to be used for the digital wallet project cannot be counted as an investment expenditure,
Ms. Sirikanlaya stated that if the budget cannot be used in time for the next year by September 30, it is possible that it will not be used if we do not reach a conclusion on whether it can be used or not across the year.
When asked if it would be postponed again, Ms. Sirikanya said there were two ways: either distribute it immediately, even though the system may not be finished, then it would have to be distributed in cash by September 30, or if it wanted to distribute it all at once, then this money might have to be shelved and other money would have to be found.
‘The other day, the Permanent Secretary also came out and said that it is possible to go back to using Section 28. Right now, everything is still fl
uid, not stable, and not certain,’ said Ms. Sirikanya.
Ms. Sirikanya also mentioned about the registration system that the procurement had already been completed on July 11, there shouldn’t be any problems. But the problem is the complicated payment system. Because it is an open loop system, banks have to create another wallet in the app for us to use. So I would like to see the TOR to see what the specifications are. But the TOR cannot be provided because it is a selective procurement. We have to invite only a few entrepreneurs to bid. So we asked to see the invitation letter. But the invitation letter is not finished yet. So I am not sure how to finish it in time. Because don’t forget that after the payment system is complete, the Blueprint must be sent to commercial banks to open the connection system. Then it must be sent to the Bank of Thailand for another 15 days to review. Therefore,
‘Therefore, it is highly possible that we will not be able to distribute in the fourth quarter if this system is still
not ready until today. Therefore, I would like to ask the media to inquire about this matter. Will the public be safe with the money they use to exchange here? Will the digital money that has been paid appear in the people’s wallets for sure? There is no evidence that money has been lost or lost along the way, right?’ said Ms. Sirikanya.
When asked whether the online registration format before offline registration would encourage people to register with their phones, Ms. Sirikanya said it was possible because the registration period using smartphones is quite long, and the government probably wants people to register offline as little as possible, which is why they have given people time to struggle to find their phones to register. The government also said that people can register without smartphones, but did not say how to do it. They only mentioned how to register with a smartphone, and they evaded the idea by saying that they would keep it a secret for now, or people would not register using smartphones.
As for how this kind of incentive will affect people to buy mobile phones, Ms. Sirikanya stated that it will not have such a big impact that it will encourage people to use mobile phones. But don’t forget that you can’t buy mobile phones with a digital wallet, including electrical appliances, communication devices, and electronic devices. This issue has been discussed a lot in the committee because many products are produced by Thais, such as fans or air conditioners, which we have been the main exporters for a long time. Why are we discriminating against and there is still no answer? Including creating incentives for small shops to join the project. By asking the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce directly, who is in charge of registering shops, he confirmed that there is no incentive for small shops.
The reporter asked how much she would rate today’s announcement. Ms. Sirikanya said that she did not give a score, and said, “Today, I am very excited to have the announcement of the digital walle
t because I have been waiting since the beginning of the month. But when last night they said that the announcement would be divided into 3 times, the first time would be just the ministers and 3 deputy ministers of finance, and then the prime minister would make the announcement later, we knew that there would not be much. I did not expect it, I was not disappointed, and I did not give a score, but I expected it to be like this. Nothing is very clear yet, but I said that if I were going to make an announcement, I would make one. Whatever there is, I will say it first,” said Ms. Sirikanya.
Source: Thai News Agency