“Worapop” believes that digital wallets cannot stimulate the economy.

Parliament, "Worapop", MP of Move Forward Party, believes that digital wallets cannot stimulate the economy. It is just a large loan. He is concerned that the conditions for joining small shops will become a barrier to joining the project. In addition, convenience stores will benefit. Woraphop Wiriyaroj, MP for the Move Forward Party, discussed the draft of the additional budget bill for fiscal year 2024, not exceeding 122 billion baht, to be used in the 10,000 baht top-up project via digital wallets. He believed that it could not really stimulate the economy, and that it was just a large-scale loan project that left people in debt. Instead, it would turn into a tornado that would hit large stores instead. Worst of all, it would prevent small stores from participating in the project, especially the condition that prohibits stores from exchanging for cash to accept digital money. Mr. Woraphop said that if the goal of the money distribution is to stimulate the economy, the conditions of this measure must cre ate the highest income distribution, creating the most circulation for small entrepreneurs. However, when looking at the conditions of this project, it is not like that. Mr. Woraphop said that the project's conditions were designed to discourage small and medium-sized retailers who do not have long enough cash flow because they cannot immediately withdraw cash after people spend. However, they can withdraw cash after spending from the second round onwards. Where will the retailers find money to pay for other expenses that they can use digital money to pay? 'Setting conditions that stores that receive digital money cannot exchange it for cash is to exclude small stores from the digital money project itself… which reflects that the people who think of the policy have never been small business owners, do not have to circulate money, so they come up with strange conditions that no other country thinks of,' said Mr. Woraphop. Mr. Woraphop noted that the condition that stores could not withdraw cash from the fir st round, why did convenience stores include it? Or was it because the government was concerned that small stores would not participate in the project, so it opened the door for convenience stores to be small stores as well? In addition, small shops whose income does not reach the threshold that must pay taxes, why did the digital project come back to set conditions that exclude small shops that operate legally? Setting conditions that are different from large shops that receive digital money from small shops and can immediately exchange it for cash. If small shops are excluded from the supply chain, from the economic chain, it will become a drain of money from the small supply chain back into the big shops. 'I think it is a very cold-blooded condition to systematically change the economic value to be concentrated in the tycoon's shops. I want you to think simply. In the past, people would buy meatballs at the entrance of the alley, but if the meatball carts do not accept digital money, people will go to co nvenience stores instead. In addition, their original income will disappear,' said Mr. Woraphop. Source: Thai News Agency