Thai Govt must decide on withdrawal of money to repay rice farmers

[webfact]

Government must decide on withdrawal of money to repay farmers



BANGKOK, 17 April 2014 (NNT) - According to the Finance Permanent-Secretary, a decision to withdraw additional money from the central budget to repay farmers under the rice-pledging scheme, rests solely with the government.

Rangsan Sriworasart, the Finance Permanent-Secretary, has revealed that many disgruntled farmers have demanded the government withdraw an additional 40 billion baht from the central budget to cover their overdue payments. Should the government accede to their request, the matter would be proposed to the Cabinet before seeking the approval of the Election Commission (EC).

Mr. Rangsan disclosed that earlier, the EC had approved the withdrawal of at least 20 billion baht from the central budget. However, the EC would have to consider whether additional amounts could be released or not.

He added that the Finance Ministry has also requested loans from various financial institutions in order to deposit money in the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to help repay the farmers. At this point however, the Ministry’s request has failed because many potential lenders, have reservations about the legitimacy of such loans.


-- NNT 2014-04-17

[djjamie]

"The Ministry’s request has failed because many potential lenders, have reservations about the legitimacy of such loans"

You know you are running a corrupt and fiscally un-transparent government when lenders are scared to deal with the government due to legitimacy issues. Even when the government say it is all OK the previous lies and shortfalls have wised the lenders up and if they can't trust the government then the majority certainly won't either.

[bigbamboo]

Tough decision..... pay the farmers or send it to Dubai.

[Tatsujin]

Tough decision..... pay the farmers or send it to Dubai.

Already gone ...

[slapout]

This predictiment has been repeated so many times, it could be termed the tri weekly special.The only change is the waiter who is pushing the slop of the day. The term ''come get your snout in the trough'' could be the announcement for the meeting of government officals in this country.

[WoopyDoo]

The last loan of 20 Bn that the EC granted permission for was a testing point for the EC that the stupid PDP failed...

They were being very nice and sycophantic to Somchai when he was considering the loan and then once they got the permission they wanted, every day for the next week the EC came under intense fire and criticism from the PTP...

'We got the money.... f----ff!'

Do they really think that they can do a repeat?

The EC will deffo refuse the next time..... a government in its last days of office requesting access to billions....... would you trust them?

[siampolee]

Simple question.

Why weren't the accounts settled prior to the dissolving of Parliament ?

Those in the P.T.P. cabinet had one presumes prior notice oft heir puppet masters actions or is the truth of the matter that payment was to be based upon the availability of monies from the next financial year due to the mismanagement corruption involved in the then current budget funds and of course the exchange rate prevailing twixt the Thai Baht and the AED = Arab Emirates Dirham ?

[Scamper]

" He added that the Finance Ministry has also requested loans from various financial institutions in order to deposit money in the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to help repay the farmers. At this point however, the Ministry’s request has failed because many potential lenders, have reservations about the legitimacy of such loans. "

And no wonder. The last time they did that, massive national withdrawals of accounts nearly bankrupt GBS. What makes Pheu Thai think -

1) this would be any different, and

2 ) whether any of these financial institutions would ever consider such a thing after such a cautionary experience ?

Edited April 17, 2014 by Scamper

[winstonc]

Simple question.

Why weren't the accounts settled prior to the dissolving of Parliament ?

Those in the P.T.P. cabinet had one presumes prior notice oft heir puppet masters actions or is the truth of the matter that payment was to be based upon the availability of monies from the next financial year due to the mismanagement corruption involved in the then current budget funds and of course the exchange rate prevailing twixt the Thai Baht and the AED = Arab Emirates Dirham ?

simple answer polee they through their own sheer arrogance thought they would walk a general election no problem..blissfully ingoring unaware that the thai people thought otherwise..that old sword of damaclese again ...they deserve all the grief they get and buckets more..

[Robby nz]

They admitted openly that the money to pay the farmers would have been "borrowed" from the infrastructure budget IE the 2.2 trillion which they didn't get.

No doubt if they had got their hands on it there would have been a lot more "borrowed' to pay bills, and things.

And all conveniently hidden out of budget with no accountability.

Incidentally is this another top civil servant coming out with a statement exposing PT.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Robby nz

[khwaibah]

and the BS just keeps on getting higher.

[mrtoad]

Still not paid, what has Boppe Amsterdam got to say about it?

[issanaus]

Simple question.

Why weren't the accounts settled prior to the dissolving of Parliament ?

Those in the P.T.P. cabinet had one presumes prior notice oft heir puppet masters actions or is the truth of the matter that payment was to be based upon the availability of monies from the next financial year due to the mismanagement corruption involved in the then current budget funds and of course the exchange rate prevailing twixt the Thai Baht and the AED = Arab Emirates Dirham ?

A normally very reliable source with interesting connections suggested that the dissolution not planned - rather was an opportunity that occurred to them to deal with a problem that has not been discussed on TVF - but then things did not work out as planned.

Part of the discussion was what was the PTP plans for the rice scheme when the AEC came into operation - and how would PTP be able to maintain its relationship with the reds/supporters in that situation,

[ggold]

Simple question.

Why weren't the accounts settled prior to the dissolving of Parliament ?

Those in the P.T.P. cabinet had one presumes prior notice oft heir puppet masters actions or is the truth of the matter that payment was to be based upon the availability of monies from the next financial year due to the mismanagement corruption involved in the then current budget funds and of course the exchange rate prevailing twixt the Thai Baht and the AED = Arab Emirates Dirham ?

You forgot the Bt2.2 trillion infrastructure project. This was going to support the rice infrastructure scheme!

[surangw]

keep stalling until its all moldy

[SOTIRIOS]

....is this like.....the 10th time they source money......'to pay the farmers'......???

....absolute power...........corrupts....absolutely.....

[soalbundy]

Oh dear, the government has to make a decision.......forget it then.

[Lupatria]

Did I miss the famous words: "next week" in the statement?

[Dogmatix]

Now the government is planning to request permission from the EC to borrow another Bt40bn from the Central Budget in addition to the Bt20bn they borrowed on condition that it would be repaid from rice sales by 31 May. It is not clear whether Bt20bn of that would be used to repay the first loan or whether the total debt will be Bt60bn.

Meanwhile, rice sales are failing miserably in the face of robust price competition from Vietnam which has a much lower cost base, due to managing an agricultural policy that aims at improving yields and sustainability, rather than idiotic speculation on the global rice price and lining the pockets of politicians and rice millers as the top priority.

[belg]

why not sell more rice, or do like japan : make ricewine ...

[Robby nz]

If the rice sales are going so well that they can repay the 20 billion before the end of next month then where is the need to borrow more ?

Just pay the farmers out of the sales as you should have been doing as soon as you found out there was a cock up with failing to make provision to pay the farmers before the house was dissolved.

[tim armstrong]

Another photo that speaks volumes. Rangsan looks like he's saying - " Please don't ask me difficult questions, you know I'm only the messenger" or " I need to go soon, I don't want to miss the plane out of here"

[caughtintheact]

If one reads another of today's articles at http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/719678-thai-govt-may-tap-budget-again-to-pay-farmers/?utm_source=newsletter-20140418-0741&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news

and then this article, one might just get the impression that the [caretaker] government is afraid to borrow the money because they are not going to be able to repay the first tranche on 31 May. And if they can't pay back the first tranche, they aren't likely to get a second. It looks like to sell the rice the price will have to be reduced to the point that the rice traders will lose money because the government promised the farmers more than the rice can be sold for. As Scamper noted on the link above, Thailand is not likely to find any place to sell the rice at non-competitive prices on this planet. If previously cited FAO data is anywhere in the ballpark, and the world market size is 500 million tons then , the competition is already fierce. So is the government stalling in hopes that it starts raining money?