BANGKOK– The Cabinet has given approval to four measures aimed to provide support for rubber farmers after they were affected by the rubber price drop.
According to Mr Nattaporn Jatusripitak, Advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office Minister, the Cabinet has endorsed four assistance measures for rubber farmers in accordance with the resolution made on April 21 this year in response to the decrease in market prices of rubber. The four measures include:
1. Three-year extension to the loan program to provide revolving funds for the farmers’ institute for the collection of rubber produce, with a budget of 10 billion baht. The previous program was open from September 1, 2014, to March 31, 2017, and enabled the institute to purchase 1.15 million tons of rubber from farmers.
2. Ninety-day extension to the rubber farmer empowerment program, targeting to allow another 11,460 eligible rubber-farming households to register for financial aid.
3. One-year extension to the program to enhance the potential of the farmers’ institute for stabilizing rubber prices which expired on March 31, 2017, with a budget of 10 billion baht.
4. Provision of loans for latex processing businesses through commercial banks under a 10-billion-baht budget from May 2017-April 2019. Under this measure, the government will subsidize farmers’ interest payments at the rate of no more than 3 percent per year. The loan program is expected to allow for the absorption of up to 20 percent of latex output, helping maintain the rubber price at 70 baht per kilogram.
