From May until July, monthly Social Security Fund (SSF) contributions for salaried employees (Section 33 of the Social Security Act) will be reduced from 5% to 1% and former employees (Section 39) who continue to contribute to the SSF after leaving their jobs will see their payments lowered from 9% to 1.9% over the same period, reports the Bangkok Post.
Non-mainstream, "independent" workers who conduct small-scale trading such as vendors and farmers, covered under Section 40, will have their overall contributions slashed to an amount ranging between B42 and B180 per month over the same period.
Speaking after the meeting, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the cabinet had also approved a raft of other measures to counterbalance the fuel spike which has only been sharpened by the economic fallout from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
They include increasing cooking gas subsidies for 3.6 million holders of state welfare cards from B45 to B100 a month each and providing a monthly B100 discount to 5,500 vendors and hawkers who hold state welfare cards.
Gasohol costs will also be reduced by B250 per month for 157,000 working motorcycle drivers registered with the Department of Land Transport.
The retail price of natural gas for vehicles will also be maintained at B15.59 per kilogramme while metered taxi drivers under the Lom Hai Jai Diow Gun (Breathe Together) project will be able to buy natural gas for B13.62 per kilogramme.
For those who use less than 300 units of electricity per month, the fuel tariff will be cut by 22 satang between May and August, while the retail price of diesel will be capped at B30 per litre until the end of next month.
After that, the government will pledge to subsidise half of any further increases.
Prayut also announced urgent measures to help farmers ahead of the harvest season with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked to oversee imports of fertilisers and animal feed.
Government House spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said after the PM’s presser that the 10 measures require a B70bn budget likely to be discussed at the next cabinet meeting.
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