BAAC allocates 60 billion baht in relief budget for rice farmers

BANGKOK, 28 June 2013 (NNT) – The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) has allocated a budget of 60 billion baht to finance five measures aimed at assisting farmers who have been affected by the reduction in pledged price under the government’s rice pledging program. The reduction came after a tremendous loss in the rice program.

According to Deputy Finance Minister Tanusak Lek-uthai, in his capacity as BAAC chairman, the BAAC board has approved a budget of 60 billion baht to help 200,000 rice farmers who are being affected by the reduction in the rice pledging price.

The money will be spent of five relief measures. One of them is to cut the interest rate on lendings to farmers by 3%. Another measure allows the use of the Farmers Credit cards without charges. The BAAC will also subsidize half of the farm insurance premiums usually paid by farmers in an effort to reduce their production cost.

The move came after the cabinet had agreed with the National Rice Policy Committee to cut the rice pledging price to 12,000 baht from 15,000 baht per ton.

The pledging price cut was based on the global rice price situation, the baht appreciation and rising rice supply in the global market. The price decrease is also expected to help sustain the country’s fiscal discipline. The 60-billion-baht BAAC assistance program will last one year.


-- NNT 2013-06-28

What a load of BS that is.. First of all I don't know any farmers that have insurance or a credit card.. A poor attempt to please the farmers well it ain't gonna work that's for sure

What no discount on their membership to Thai Elite Card?

So the rice pledging money has not been cut really then has it. They are just loading up the 3000 baht they deducted and giving it back now in a 60 Billion baht give away. AT least with the rice they actually were supposed to get something for the money, this is simply a give away of 2 Billion dollars!!! I bet the taxpayers like their money being given out like this then.

A lot of these farmers are going to lose their land because of debt, they will end up being serfs to large Chinese agricultural concerns and having no idea how it happened. extremely sad.

BAAC keeps on giving money because the government will pay for it. Another 2 billion USD of taxpayers money gone.

BAAC offers a special credit card to farmers, as well as numerous other services. They are actually quite a good organisation by Thai standards. They actually help people, and receive little fanfare for doing it (yes, I know it's there job.... but how many other govt agencies actually do their job?)

A lot of these farmers are going to lose their land because of debt, they will end up being serfs to large Chinese agricultural concerns and having no idea how it happened. extremely sad.

You don't think this could have been the Chinaman's real intention?

What next, this BAAC scheme is deemed to not alleviate their suffering enough somewhere down the line, so they dig even deeper into the taxpayers money to pay off the farmers?

Everyone here must be VERY rich, as the waste in the use of taxpayers money is immense and no one seems to be at all bothered by it.

I am ignorant to the in's and out's of the banks in Thailand but should should I be putting my money into another bank in Thailand, in my G/f s village this is the only bank?

So they cut 20% off a 130B per year scam and replace the 26 billion with 60 billion in further costs?

More Shinawatra fiscal discipline?

Lost for words.

The money will be spent of five relief measures. One of them is to cut the interest rate on lendings to farmers by 3%. Another measure allows the use of the Farmers Credit cards without charges. The BAAC will also subsidize half of the farm insurance premiums usually paid by farmers in an effort to reduce their production cost

This would appear to be an attempt to buy the farmers vote back

I have some questions about this.

What is the present interest rate of lending to farmers?

Will this cut of 3% encourage farmers to borrow more?

Will this cut of 3% apply to existing loans or only to new loans?

No charges on farmers credit cards, I presume this is the credit cards given out to farmers same as to taxi drivers.

Does no charges mean no interest, or are there other charges that will be cut and interest remains?

Insurance in an effort to reduce production costs?

Only insurance I can think of is crop insurance against things like floods and that hardly reduces production costs rather increases them.

I would have thought that if farmers have to cut production costs one of the nonessentials they could cut would be insurance for that would be one of the few things they could cut that would not effect yield.

What are the other 2 relief measures?

What is the saving to the Govt of the 3,000b cut as opposed to the 60billion this will cost?

What a load of BS that is.. First of all I don't know any farmers that have insurance or a credit card.. A poor attempt to please the farmers well it ain't gonna work that's for sure

I'm sure it will work! Right up to the point where the farmers don't or can't pay off the credit card. Another 60 billion Bht written off.

Thai farmers don't even pay taxes!

I am ignorant to the in's and out's of the banks in Thailand but should should I be putting my money into another bank in Thailand, in my G/f s village this is the only bank?

You could do as I do. When my pension comes each month to my bank in the US I withdraw all and put it in the safe at my house. The interest rates at the Thai banks are nil and at least I know Somchai at the bank will not be withdrawing my money.

60 billion to give relief to 200,000 farmers, does that not work out to 300,000 baht per farmer? What are the remainder of the farmers going to do to even approach this vast sum? There are not enough banks to rob in Thailand to cover those left out.

Does the government feel their voter base has dropped so drastically that they will go to any extreme in the use of Thailand tax monies to stay in contol? The poppycock PR programs going on, at local level and from government spokespeople is pathetic. They promise transparency and they are thowing out the same BS numbers for the rice scam and in a couple cases lowered the loss figures that were broadcast by their own party.. Now we hve another cabinet shuffle, 5th one in about 18 months, thus another few months of complete disaray.

We do seem to have been subjected to a continual change in personal, with incomptence seeming to be their major claim to fame. One constant seems to be the ability of the PM, big brother, and coalation in power to pick support people who even they cannot justify as acceptable, another constant shown just by schear numbers, there is no end to the line of incompentants lined up to be civil servants in Thailand.

BAAC keeps on giving money because the government will pay for it. Another 2 billion USD of taxpayers money gone.

Except that the government is awfully slow to reimburse the BAAC for what it hands out, under these government-schemes, and recently graciously permitted the bank to borrow even more rather than reimburse them out of government funds, which (to me at least) looks very odd.

Not of course that the government is broke or anything, just behaving as though it were, wonder what Moody's think ?

It is all about the ricefarmers.

What about farmers growing rubber, pineapple, palmoil.?

Oh I forgot, they are in general located south of Bangkok and don't vote for Mr T and his puppets!

I am ignorant to the in's and out's of the banks in Thailand but should should I be putting my money into another bank in Thailand, in my G/f s village this is the only bank?

You could do as I do. When my pension comes each month to my bank in the US I withdraw all and put it in the safe at my house. The interest rates at the Thai banks are nil and at least I know Somchai at the bank will not be withdrawing my money.

I was going to suggest the same thing. get a safe and keep your money in there, it's safer.

What a load of BS that is.. First of all I don't know any farmers that have insurance or a credit card.. A poor attempt to please the farmers well it ain't gonna work that's for sure

Quite knowledgeable? A few years back the Government sponsored many farmers for credit card use to help pay for living expences and seeds etc. The insurance mentioned is required by banks for people taking out loans with them!

This is supposed to get Moody's of their back.

What a complete and utter balls up. And they are still going to grow more and lose more on the pledging. This is completely out of control.

Oh to be a rice farmer, cheap credit,free credit cards,get

unrealistic ,and unsustainable prices for my harvest,and

who pays for this,the hardworking Thai population,just

so the Government can win all future elections,its vote

buying through the back door.

regards Worgeordie

A lot of these farmers are going to lose their land because of debt, they will end up being serfs to large Chinese agricultural concerns and having no idea how it happened. extremely sad.

Perhaps sad, BUT, who created the problem? Thais or farang?

Let them get on with it and sort out (fix) their own problems.

A complete and utter balls up indeed T a H.

We were told that they budgeted for a 100billion loss from the coming year at 15,000 per ton.

Now they will reduce that by 20% to 12,000 per ton.

Which should therefor save 20% of the loss or 20 billion.

Now so as not to be seen to be backtracking they will spend 60 billion.

Which is an increased loss of 40 billion.

And only for 200,000 of the farmers, what about the rest? more cake anyone?

Fiscal discipline indeed.

So the great savings from cutting the price by B3000/ton will only accrue after the first 20 million tonnes because they just gave away B60 billion. Is this what Yingluk calls fiscal discipline?

A complete and utter balls up indeed T a H.

We were told that they budgeted for a 100billion loss from the coming year at 15,000 per ton.

Now they will reduce that by 20% to 12,000 per ton.

Which should therefor save 20% of the loss or 20 billion.

Now so as not to be seen to be backtracking they will spend 60 billion.

Which is an increased loss of 40 billion.

And only for 200,000 of the farmers, what about the rest? more cake anyone?

Fiscal discipline indeed.

They really would be better off paying every farmer over the age of 58, 10 k per month to stop growing.

If BAAC make these loans, will the bank be viable, or will it be like the banks in 1997, 1998. Are they going to have large quantities of Non Performing Loans? Will the bank be viable, or will they be like Bangkok Bank of Commerce, BBC? Is the bank being used to buy votes from the farmers? How much of the money will go to the farmers, and how much will go to land owners, millers, fertilizer and pesticide suppliers? Than there are the corrupt politicians at the feeder. When will the

I am ignorant to the in's and out's of the banks in Thailand but should should I be putting my money into another bank in Thailand, in my G/f s village this is the only bank?

You could do as I do. When my pension comes each month to my bank in the US I withdraw all and put it in the safe at my house. The interest rates at the Thai banks are nil and at least I know Somchai at the bank will not be withdrawing my money.

You should try Kasikorn Bank. They pay very good interest rates on bonds if you have a decent amount of savings. If it's just a pension being paid monthly you wouldn't get any interest on it anywhere.

I'm really surprised that this state owned bank still has money to form yet another budget. The 500 billion non-revolving fund seems to have expanded to 700 billion, handful of billions here, there and everywhere and a government which cannot repay as they've already lost about 200 - 220 billion with further losses rising as rapidly as the mountain.