BANGKOK, March 4 – A new injection of Bt320 billion (US$10.7 billion) will be needed as subsidy for the Thai government’s rice pledging scheme in the new harvest seasons, a senior Commerce Minister official said today.
Permanent secretary for commerce Vatchari Vimooktayon said the new funding will be to purchase Bt200 billion of rice from the annual crop and Bt100 billion from the second harvest.
The figure of the new round for the subsidy was reached today in a meeting between the Commerce Ministry and the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives which work on revolving fund and financial framework for the rice pledging scheme.
Ms Vatchari said severe drought in certain farming areas will probably lower this year’s yields from the second harvest to six million tonnes.
Subsidy for the new round of rice pledging should not exceed Bt300 billion which is lower than last year’s Bt330 billion, she said, adding that Bt140 billion for the new injection will be allocated by the Public Debt Management Office while the rest will be contributed from the government-to-government rice trading in the 2011-2012 harvest.
The Commerce Ministry made Bt180 billion for the government-to-government rice deals, she said.
Ms Vatchari said the conclusion from today’s meeting will be submitted to the Rice Policy Committee in mid-month for a final decision.
