Finance Ministry still chasing funds in hopes of paying farmers

[Lite Beer]

Finance Ministry still chasing funds in hopes of paying farmers
Suphannee Pootpisut
The Nation April 19, 2014 1:00 am

Tanusak

BANGKOK: -- Ministry hoping to secure some loans to cover Bt90 bn owed

The Finance Ministry is still trying to secure some kind of loans for the rice-pledging scheme in the hope farmers will be paid this month, the government said.

Caretaker Deputy Finance Minister Tanusak Lekuthai said the ministry's Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) was attempting to secure loans to cover the payments, and if it were successful, Bt90 billion owed to farmers would be paid this month.

"After the Songkran holiday, the PDMO has tried to put out calls for loans," Tanusak said.

"More than 30 financial institutions are ready to help but are afraid to lend because of concerns over problems like those that happened to the Government Savings Bank and Krungthai Bank."

In response to a proposal from farmers that an extra Bt40 billion be borrowed from the central budget, Tanusak said it was a good idea but ultimately it would be up to the Election Committee and the Cabinet to decide. And even if that is approved, there is still another Bt50 billion needed.

"The ministry is urgently seeking sources of the needed Bt90 billion. Any agencies or organisations that have has hindered financial institutions' lending to the ministry are asked to provide ways that will enable them to speed up payment to farmers."

After the House of Representatives was dissolved late last year, placing the government in a caretaker role, it was unable to raise funds to pay farmers what they had been promised under the pledging scheme. It asked the banks to bid on a loan agreement to pay off the farmers, but there were no takers.

Before the House was dissolved, the farmers were paid by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), which was supposed to be reimbursed by the Commerce Ministry's sales of rice it had taken from the farmers under the pledging programme. The ministry has continued raising money by selling its rice stockpiles, but has come up short, and some farmers are months behind in their payments.

"We could not borrow [through normal channels in the government's caretaker role]. That's why the Finance Ministry tried to find other means of borrowing, but it reached a dead end because of financial institutions' concerns," he said.

Commenting on a proposal for the BAAC to issue bonds without a ministry guarantee as a way to pay farmers, Tanusak said the process of assigning credit ratings to such bonds would take no less than four months, resulting in a further delay for farmers.

On allegations that the pledging scheme has been plagued by corruption, he said farmers were innocent victims of that particular controversy.

"If there is has been suspicious activity involving any procedure of the rice pledging, a petition should be made targeting that suspect procedure - not payments to farmers. The payments do not involve corruption."

Rice pledging involves four steps.

First, a farmer is registered through the Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.

Second, rice pledging is run by the Commerce Ministry's Public Warehouse Organisation and Marketing Organisation for Farmers. Third, payments to farmers based on a rice-pledging document are issued by the BAAC.

Last, the Commerce Ministry sells the rice.

Tanusak said the third procedure was the most transparent and there was no indication of corruption given that payments went straight into farmers' accounts.

-- The Nation 2014-04-19

[NongKhaiKid]

Prior to Songkran one official was upbeat about payments being made after the holidays but now it's ' hoping to secure some loans ', ' urgently seeking sources of the needed Bt90 Billion ' and on and on.

This government may run out of money but guaranteed they will never run out of BS excuses.

[noitom]

Thai news loves to show a full page photograph to add some sort of dimension of credibility to the article. Thais don't do it with their writing, they do it with pictures of the sound bite source. Anyone can be sure that this guy is a credible source just by looking at the photograph. He has nice manicured nails , a clean crisp shirt, a designer tie and a great haircut. Anyone would know immediately he is a leader. He will come up with the cash.

[Thaddeus]

Thailand has no money left.

Next.

[1weatherman]

"Last, the Commerce Ministry sells the rice". Me thinks selling the rice first might work better.

[PatOngo]

"Tanusak said the third procedure was the most transparent and there was no indication of corruption given that payments went straight into farmers' accounts".

The spin of these people is laughable.TIT.You can fool most of the people,most of the time.

[ChrisY1]

Hanging on to power is so much more important to PTP than managing the country....unable to pay the rice farmers....finacial institutions not trusting PTP....

This government is a lame duck...!

[chainarong]

Less talking and more action , unfortunately the Thai Administration has not one iota how to tackle this problem , when you offer money on the never never plan it is like credit , it is okay when you have the funds , but if you have none, you are in the s!!t and that's where PTP and Thailand rice farmers are, in the shi!!t, as I have said many times , one would hope that the rice farmers and other farmers vote accordingly , the next time there is an election and any intimidation from village leaders or influential persons is reported to the Dems.

[tomyummer]

The fact that the banks have no confidence in loaning the government money and potential civilian retaliation is a bad sign in itself. And trying to make excuses for where the corruption lies along the chain is utterly ridiculous, idiotic and irresponsible.

[Thaiisnotrequired]

He can say what he likes, but an ass will always chase the carrot dangled in front of it, and never quite get it!

"the third procedure was the most transparent and there was no indication of corruption given that payments went straight into farmers' accounts."

What's he saying? Nice admission of previous events.

[caughtintheact]

The Finance Ministry is omitting a rather important point. How will the government repay loans even if the banks were willing to loan? To repay the loans the government would have to get the rice sold, and so far it can't find enough buyers. Maybe the question that should be answered is, if the government can find buyers and make contracts, would the banks be willing to make the loans? Then there is the matter of how much the rice can actually be sold for, If the banks won't loan they are afraid of losses, and if the banks lose their customers pay, and how many of the farmers have accounts in those banks? The bottom line is still that the government promised a price they could not justify, and the world markets refused to accept that price as lower price alternatives were readily available.

[WoopyDoo]

The EC won't go for it.... If they allow it, then they are basically assisting in the PTP vote buying through via vote retention policy.

Just like in business.... The two most important factors for staying in business is to gain customers and secondly and just as importantly... retain them.

No different in politics where customers are voters instead... You need to first get them, but you must at all costs retain them to keep power. If the EC sanction these loans, they are helping PTP directly retain its voter base.

[Lite Beer]

Govt to borrow more from central budget to pay farmers

BANGKOK, 19 April 2014 (NNT) – The Commerce Ministry will borrow 40 billion baht more from the Central Fund in order to pay rice growers participating in the government’s rice pledging program.

According to Deputy Commerce Minister Yanyong Puangrach, the government has been asked by the Thai Farmers Association to speedily make disbursements to unpaid farmers who pledged their rice with the government. In response to the request, he said the ministry would borrow another 40 billion baht to pay thousands of rice growers.

He however said he would have to discuss the matter with Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan before forwarding it to the cabinet for approval.

The president of the Thai Farmers Association earlier submitted a letter to Mr. Yanyong, asking the government to continue with the rice mortgage program and borrow some extra money from the central budget to inject into the rice scheme.

-- NNT 2014-04-19

[GeorgeO]

"Tanusak said the third procedure was the most transparent and there was no indication of corruption given that ...

... payments went straight into farmers' accounts".

But that's the whole crux of the problem ... they didn't....!!

[spidermike007]

Yingluck should never have made these promises without having all the financing lined up beforehand. This fiasco is making her look terribly incompetent, and it is making it appear that her administration is being run by inexperienced children. This has become a real boil on the face of this government. Something needs to be done. I have a suggestion. Why doesn't every member of the administration forfeit their salary for two years, and all of that money can be used to pay the farmers, the money they have been promised, and have already earned?

[Thaiisnotrequired]

"In response to the request, he said the ministry would borrow another 40 billion baht to pay thousands of rice growers.

He however said he would have to discuss the matter with Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan before forwarding it to the cabinet for approval."

Interesting that the past tense of will is would, and is most commonly used in a conditional way using 'if'.

If I won the lottery, I would buy a new home.

So he says in effect the ministry would borrow 40 billion, if it gets approved.... after saying 'will'... LIAR. More PTP continued lies.

[godden]

this government has egg fried rice on it's face

[soalbundy]

Thailand is a sovereign state they can print the money they owe its not such a huge amount that it would cause inflation

[smedly]

aren't they due to pay the original advance of 20 billion from the central budget next month pending the sale of rice which also according to reports was going well - now they want to borrow again from central budget and not a word about how well the rice sales are going - transparent as usual

[caughtintheact]

"Tanusak said the third procedure was the most transparent and there was no indication of corruption given that ...

... payments went straight into farmers' accounts".

But that's the whole crux of the problem ... they didn't....!!

Some farmers have been paid, which is why some have said they want to continue the rice pledging scheme. and that is probably what Tanusak is talking about. But many farmers have not been paid. Finding the money to pay them might be impossible for some time to come. However, Tanusak might be right about a lack of corruption. The whole scheme's failure smells more like a combination of stupidity and arrogance in making promises to get votes that the government was warned would probably not materialize. I'm not ruling out corruption totally, but that will take some proving. The arrogance and stupidity are readily apparent.

See this video in which Khun Vichai Sriprasert warns that the government should not expect to be able to sell rice at the pledged prices because rice prices had never been that high before. http://www.bloomberg.com/video/77101558-thailand-yingluck-shinawatra-rice-farmers.html

[pedro01]

"In response to the request, he said the ministry would borrow another 40 billion baht to pay thousands of rice growers.

He however said he would have to discuss the matter with Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan before forwarding it to the cabinet for approval."

Interesting that the past tense of will is would, and is most commonly used in a conditional way using 'if'.

If I won the lottery, I would buy a new home.

So he says in effect the ministry would borrow 40 billion, if it gets approved.... after saying 'will'... LIAR. More PTP continued lies.

Have you considered the fact you are reading a translation?

I would not get too hung up on the words the translator decided to use...

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Thaiisnotrequired]

"In response to the request, he said the ministry would borrow another 40 billion baht to pay thousands of rice growers.

He however said he would have to discuss the matter with Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan before forwarding it to the cabinet for approval."

Interesting that the past tense of will is would, and is most commonly used in a conditional way using 'if'.

If I won the lottery, I would buy a new home.

So he says in effect the ministry would borrow 40 billion, if it gets approved.... after saying 'will'... LIAR. More PTP continued lies.

Have you considered the fact you are reading a translation?

I would not get too hung up on the words the translator decided to use...

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

will or would is irrelevant I guess.

However, he still made a promise, and then said it had to be approved twice afterwards.

[ramrod711]

The Finance Ministry is still trying to secure some kind of loans for the rice-pledging scheme in the hope farmers will be paid this month, the government said.

Last week it was this week, and now, this month, means next week. I used to have a tenant just like the PTP, I threw his worthless butt off the property. Looks like Thailand is taking the same approach to these liars.

[tim armstrong]

Like French, Oz, US, Italian and farmers from some other countries did some years ago, I wonder what would happen if they stopped supplying the food chain to markets and shopping malls ? Not that I'm supporting insurrection, but I just wish the farmers would be a bit more assertive.

[Scamper]

Hearing this Pheu Thai official speak so confidently and assuredly almost makes one forget that all of the suggestions and modus operandi he proposes have all been done before, with disastrous results.

" More than 30 financial institutions are ready to help but are afraid to lend because of concerns over problems like those that happened to the Government Savings Bank and Krungthai Bank "

If there was an award for gross understatement of the year, this would be a certain nominee. Yes, of course they're afraid :

1. There was a massive national withdrawal of customers' accounts that brought GSB close to bankruptcy.

2. There was an increasing belief that the caretaker administration did not have the constitutional authority to carry it out - a belief seconded by the EC.

3. The bank unions rebelled.

4. There was public outrage.

Yes, I guess you could say they were " concerned ". But one gets the feeling Pheu Thai knows these things already. Going through the motions of making public statement like these gives the impression of administration functionality. Problem is, that ventured into the surreal some months ago.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Scamper

[Sydebolle]

What's that sorry story on "chicken coming home to roost" or so?

[ratcatcher]

Yingluck should never have made these promises without having all the financing lined up beforehand. This fiasco is making her look terribly incompetent, and it is making it appear that her administration is being run by inexperienced children. This has become a real boil on the face of this government. Something needs to be done. I have a suggestion. Why doesn't every member of the administration forfeit their salary for two years, and all of that money can be used to pay the farmers, the money they have been promised, and have already earned?

".... and it is making it appear that her administration is being run by inexperienced children."

Well, some people call that statement "hitting the nail on the head" +1

[Baerboxer]

Yingluck should never have made these promises without having all the financing lined up beforehand. This fiasco is making her look terribly incompetent, and it is making it appear that her administration is being run by inexperienced children. This has become a real boil on the face of this government. Something needs to be done. I have a suggestion. Why doesn't every member of the administration forfeit their salary for two years, and all of that money can be used to pay the farmers, the money they have been promised, and have already earned?

Remember the dear caretaker PM/DM vowed that the farmers would be paid - several weeks ago and nothing happened. Just more hollow words aimed at buying time, telling people what they want to hear, and hoping the problems will go away or at least be able to be blamed on someone else.

Not so much incompetence as the inability to distinguish right from wrong, do the right thing or govern wisely. Note that whilst all this has been going on, her families wealth has increased 450% during her time in office. Not a bad performance eh? Wonder how and why they can manage to the family fortune so successfully but not the country?

And her answer - forget about it all, go home up North and enjoy Songkran. She didn't either bother to come back for her court case. Not a care in the world - certainly not a financial one.

No doubt big brother will sort it all out this weekend in HK. Wonder if he even bothers telling her anymore?

[MMarlow]

"Last, the Commerce Ministry sells the rice". Me thinks selling the rice first might work better.

It's not their rice to sell at that stage.

[MMarlow]

Thailand has no money left.

Next.

Thailand has pots of money. Next.