Social security payment rates reduced for three months

Deputy government spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek announced yesterday (Sept 2) that the Cabinet had approved to reduce the rate for paying contributions from September through November, reports state news agency NNT.

Under the reductions, the monthly payments of employees covered under Section 33 of the Social Security Act will be reduced from 5% of the set wage base maximum B15,000 to 2%, effectively reducing the maximum monthly payments per employee from B750 to B300 a month.

Also, people paying into the fund under Section 39 of the act (people no longer working but who keep paying into the fund) will pay only B96 instead of B432 per month.

The reductions over three months will save each person registered under Section 33 and Section 39 of the act around B1,022 and B1,008 respectively, Ms Ratchada said.

Ms Ratchada pointed out that the reduced Social Security Fund contributions would apply to some 12.79 million individuals and about 487,000 employers, who would save B13 billion and B11bn respectively by not having to make the full payments.

Hence, the Cabinet estimated that the reductions would release B24bn to be injected into the economy, Ms Ratchada said.