The government has pledged to extend the existing 10 measures devised to alleviate the hardship of low-income earners from a surge in oil prices for three months until September.
The measures were scheduled to expire at the end of this month.
Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), said the cabinet is scheduled to approve the extension of those 10 measures at its meeting on June 21.
The supporting budget is yet to be settled, but the government is likely to use the central budget in fiscal 2022, he said.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha called an urgent meeting yesterday with his economic team including Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow and Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith to discuss economic issues after the US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 0.75 percentage points, the most aggressive hike in nearly 30 years, to stem a surge in inflation.
The Thai cabinet approved the 10 measures in March to help the public cope with rising prices of goods, services and energy.
The measures, which require combined spending of 80.2 billion baht, include providing one 100-baht discount per month to 5,500 vendors and hawkers who hold state welfare cards; reducing gasohol costs by 250 baht per month for 157,000 motorcycle drivers registered with the Department of Land Transport; and maintaining the retail price of natural gas at 15.59 baht per kilogramme.
Other measures include helping metered taxi drivers under the "Lom Hai Jai Diow Gun" (Breathe Together) project to buy natural gas for 13.62 baht per kg; helping those who use less than 300 units of electricity per month by reducing the fuel tariff by 22 satang per unit from May to August; and freezing the retail price of diesel at 30 baht per litre until the end of April.
The cabinet also agreed to reduce the rate of social security contributions for employers and employees under Section 33 of the Social Security Act from 5% to 1% to give both more spending power.
The cabinet cut the social security contribution rate for those insured under Section 39 from 9% to 1.9%, while those under Section 40 saw their contribution fall to a range of 42-180 baht per month.
According to Mr Danucha, the Finance Ministry proposed new tax incentives to attract companies to organise seminars in the provinces in an effort to increase domestic tourism.
Perks include a two-time corporate tax deduction for companies holding seminars in second-tier tourism provinces.
The measures are expected to take effect from July 15 to Dec 31, he said.
