Bangkok: The economic team held an urgent meeting to address the rising cost of living. Ekniti led the economic team in an urgent meeting to discuss ways to address the rising cost of living, following an assessment that the conflict in the Middle East may be prolonged.

According to Thai News Agency, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Ekniti Nitithanpraphas, held discussions with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport, Pipat Ratchakitprakarn, and Minister of Energy, Ekanat Promphan, regarding ways to assist groups affected by oil prices, following an assessment that the Middle East conflict may be prolonged.

Reporters said that earlier, at a meeting of Ministry of Finance executives, economic stimulus measures and assistance for the public were discussed, such as the 30-day urgent measures, which have been approved in principle. The next step is to request budget approval for disbursement. Some matters will be presented to the Cabinet meeting on Saturday, April 11th, after the government presents its policy statement to Parliament. The Ministry of Finance is preparing to propose an emergency decree to transfer budget funds from the previous year that were not disbursed as scheduled, totaling 84 billion baht, and an emergency decree to guarantee loans for the Oil Fund, which is currently in a deficit of 50 billion baht, and to expand the fund's borrowing ceiling to 150 billion baht.

In addition, the Cabinet will be asked to approve measures to top up the state welfare cards using a central budget of 1.3 billion baht, providing temporary assistance of 100 baht. The money is expected to be credited to the welfare cards as early as April 13th, in time for the Songkran festival. For the transportation sector, approximately 1.6 billion baht will be allocated to assist truck drivers to mitigate the impact of rising fuel prices.