ID :
288319
Fri, 06/07/2013 - 10:16
Auther :

Thailand explains rice pledging scheme to Moody’s

BANGKOK, June 7 (TNA) - Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong has ordered his subordinates to explain the Thai government's rice pledging scheme to US-based Moody’s Investors Service Inc. Kittirat acknowledged on Friday the Finance Ministry's account balance committee supervising the Thai government's overall farm product pledging scheme has reported a total loss of 260 billion baht from official subsidies or interventions in many farm products over the past several years, not just from the rice pledging scheme. Kittirat told reporters that he has allowed only the Ministry of Commerce to use information from the account balance committee to prevent public misunderstanding, confirming that the Thai government has also limited the borrowing for its rice pledging scheme for the 2012/2013 harvest season to 500 billion baht. The deputy premier's remarks were in response to recent reports that Moody’s may downgrade the credit rating for Thailand due to the loss, earlier assumed to be all from the Thai government's rice pledging scheme. Meanwhile, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra convened authorities concerned to prepare information on her administration's rice pledging scheme for disseminations to the public subsequently. (TNA)

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