BANGKOK, 4 Mar 2014, According to the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), the bank’s rice farmers’ fund was able to raise 121 million baht on its first day of operation.
Of that initial total, the bank reported that 10.51 million baht was in donations, 108.96 million baht was deposited in a fund that will be returned without interest, and the remaining 1.84 million baht went into a fund that will be returned with interest.
The BAAC invites all to donate, explaining that the non-return fund accepts all amounts, while the fund that would return the deposit without interest and the fund offering interest have a minimum deposit of 1,000 baht. The funds would stop accepting deposits on June 30th and would conclude at the end of this year.
BAAC President Luck Watjanawat stated that the bank has prepared mobile units to assist those who want to donate or participate in the deposit funds, but live in areas that don’t have a BAAC branch. The bank plans to raise 20 billion baht, he said, adding the bank would forward every 1 billion baht raised to the branches responsible, to make the rice mortgage support payments.
