BANGKOK, 26 June 2013 Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom said the decision whether to maintain the price of rice under the price pledging scheme will largely depend on the majority of votes to be made at the meeting of the National Rice Policy Committee this Friday.
According to the Commerce Minister, the meeting is set to convene on June 28th at the latest. The goal is to find a common ground on the government buying price with farmers from 22 provinces who are strongly objecting the reduction of price from the original 15,000 baht per ton to the newly proposed price of 12,000 baht.
However, the farmers have agreed to the condition that the price pledging value will be limited to no higher than 500,000 baht per household. Minister Boonsong stressed that he is not concerned about the rice scheme and the continuation of his tenure in the post. He said the reason for lowering the price to 12,000 baht per ton was due to the decline in global prices. The change to the pledged price, he explained, will also help decrease the government’s expenses.
