Thai Cabinet approves state budget to pay for farmers

BANGKOK, February 11 (TNA) - The Thai Cabinet has approved an urgent budget of about 712.09 million baht to pay for farmers participating in the official rice-pledging scheme in the 2012/2013 harvest. Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Bunsongphaisan told journalists of the update on Tuesday afternoon, after the Cabinet's weekly meeting earlier in the day. Niwatthamrong said that the approved 712.09-million baht budget, as requested by the Ministry of Commerce, will be used to pay for about 40,000 tonnes of rice 3,900 families of farmers had pledged with the government in the 2012/2013 crop. Niwatthamrong acknowledged, however, that the caretaker government needs to soon seek a final approval for the spending from the Election Commission of Thailand (EC). For rice pledged in the 2013/2014 crop, Niwatthamrong noted, the government has paid 61 billion baht out of totally-pledged rice worth 180 billion baht in this season, with the payment having been continuing though at a slow pace due to its now caretaker roles. According to the caretaker deputy prime minister, the caretaker government was ready to seek a loan for the payment three weeks ago, but there had been attempts to block the borrowing, including threats to withdraw money from targeted banks. In response to farmers’ demand to check the government’s rice stocks, the caretaker deputy premier revealed that he has ordered the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Internal Trade to facilitate the stock examination by farmers, denying the accusation that rice from neighboring countries was illegally pledged with the Thai government. The caretaker deputy premier insisted that the official rice-pledging scheme was problem-free in the past two years, and that the caretaker administration could return pledged rice to farmers who demand that. Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra then assured that farmer will receive their money from the rice-pledging scheme, and that her administration has no financial problems, urging concerned parties, again, not to block banks which will finance the official rice-pledging scheme. Meanwhile, Kirida Bhaopichitr, the World Bank’s senior economist for Thailand, pointed out that the outstanding sum of 120 billion baht the caretaker government has owed farmers has consequently slowed down farmers' consumption and accounted for 1 per cent of Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP). According to the World Bank's senior economist, if farmers received the money, their consumption would increase and would then boost Thailand's GDP by 1 per cent this year.(TNA)