Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has said the government has yet to finalise the period for its 5,000-baht cash handout scheme to those affected by Covid-19, as the existing fund only covers one month.
He said the government needs to wait to borrow one trillion baht so it will have more money to give to those affected.
Earlier, the government said it would allocate 5,000 baht per month for three months from April to June to 8-9 million to temporary employees and self-employed workers hit by the shutdown imposed to contain the virus.
"Someone has exaggerated [the cash handout period]. I said on behalf of the government, it has yet to be finalised," Prayut said in a live address via the government's Facebook page on Wednesday.
His remarks came one day after 100 people who had been refused the 5,000-baht handouts flocked to the Finance Ministry to protest against the ministry's move to disqualify them.
There are at least 27 million people registered for the cash handouts, but the government said it will pick only 8-9 million people to get the money.
As of Wednesday, about 12 million registered people had been disqualified.
Prayut added the current central budget, worth 50 billion baht, could cover just one month and the next payments would have to wait for enforcement of an executive decree on the borrowing.
"This amount is enough to cover the cash giveaways just one month. So the second and third payments will have to wait for the decree. Let me repeat. The budget is enough for one month," he said.
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