-TOKEN: GOVERNMENT’S FUNDRAISING INNOVATIONS

Abstract

This academic article examineก the new dimensions of government fundraising, supported by financial innovations, by issuing government digital tokens called G-Tokens or Government Tokens. The Cabinet has approved a new borrowing method proposed by the Ministry of Finance, through the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO), under the name Thailand Digital Token. The aim is to allow people to access new forms of investment and savings instead of purchasing government bonds in the traditional way, and to develop the digital economy system according to the current government’s policy, it is also a new method of raising funds or borrowing money from the government that will be used for the first time in Thailand and the first in the world. Government borrowing under the Public Debt Management Act of 2005 specifies the borrowing method in Section 10. In addition to being able to do so by making a contract or issuing a debt instrument, the last paragraph of the section also allows for other methods to be done as determined by the Cabinet. The government has therefore taken the opportunity provided by this law to devise new tools to stimulate the economy, which has been weak since the past and continues to the present. The government has set a plan to complete the first phase with a budget of 5 billion baht by the end of 2025.