BANGKOK (Reuters) - In a bid to bolster the economy at a time of global gloom, Thailand is to allow retired civil servants to spend up to half their death ben-efits while they are still alive. On Tuesday the Thai cabinet ap-proved a plan to give 237,000 re-tired state employees the right to draw up to 200,000 baht (38,000 yuan) in advance from payouts their families would receive after their deaths, Deputy Finance Minister Varathep Ratanakorn told reporters.

　　The government plans to set aside 34 billion baht from its budget to fund payments from October. The plan must be approved by parliament, but is expected to meet little re-sistance.

　　Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has sought ways of boosting local consumption to offset the effects of a sagging world economy.