BANGKOK, 13 Mar 2014 Mr. Surasak Riengkrue, Director General of the Department of Foreign Trade, has revealed that he has signed a request to borrow 20 billion baht from the Ministry of Finance to be paid to farmers who are waiting for the money the government owed them under the rice pledging program.
The Director General said the request document has been forwarded to the Finance Ministry to finalize, estimating the fund would be available and readied for distribution within a couple of days.
Mr. Surasak indicated that the borrowing plan followed the Cabinet’s decision which designated his department to borrow the money from the government’s central fund. He said that as the proposed amount is just made under a standard borrowing deal, the money, once available, can be directly transferred to the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives for distribution to the farmers.
The Director General also expressed his confidence that the government would be able to return the borrowed sum to the Finance Ministry within the May 31st timeframe set by the Election Commission, saying the amount would be compensated by the money earned from selling the stockpiled rice.
