Prime Minister Delays Power Fee Hike

BANGKOK, Aug 9 (TNA) – Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha shelved a plan to raise the electricity fee in August and will find a way to help vulnerable groups for the September-December period, said government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana. The spokesman said that on Aug 8 Gen Prayut discussed the electricity fee with the Energy Ministry and the Energy Regulatory Commission and they agreed that the electricity fee would be unchanged in August. For the September-December period, the government would subsidize the fuel tariff in the electricity fee to help households and vulnerable groups of people. The government would allocate a budget for the subsidy and relevant organizations would propose the details of the assistance to the cabinet for consideration, Mr Thanakorn said. (TNA)