BANGKOK, Nov 23 Reuters Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Thursday the country39;s economy was in crisis, stressing the need to forge ahead with his controversial 500 billion baht 14.23 billion digital handouts policy.

Speaking at a forum, Srettha said the economy was not in good shape with fewer foreign arrivals than targeted, and he would be prioritising attracting foreign investment and addressing household debt.

There needs to be big economic stimulus, said Srettha, who is also finance minister, adding a plan to tackle debt would be announced on Dec. 12.

His comments comes days after data from the stateplanning agency showed lowerthan expected growth of 1.5 in the JulySeptember quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace this year, on weak exports and government spending.

Thailand recorded 23.85 million foreign tourists arriving from Jan 1 to Nov. 19, spending 1 trillion baht.

It is targeting 28 million arrivals versus a prepandemic record of nearly 40 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2019 who spent 1.91 trillion baht.

Srettha39;s digital wallet policy, which entails handouts of 10,000 baht to 50 million Thais next year to spend in their localities, has come under criticism in recent months by economists and former central bankers over risks of it breaching financial discipline.

In recent weeks, government officials have described the economy to be in a crisis, necessitating its signature plan.

Srettha, a real estate tycoon and newcomer to…