BAAC in good shape, Finance tells Cabinet
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The Finance Ministry yesterday assured the Cabinet that the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives has strong liquidity, with assets increasing by 13 per cent and deposits increasing to Bt82 billion in fiscal 2013.
Rubber growers have registered for financial aid to alleviate production costs totalling Bt79 million.
According to BAAC’s balance and profit/loss statements for fiscal 2012 ended March, which the ministry submitted to the Cabinet, BAAC’s total assets rose 13.21 per cent to Bt1.05 trillion, up Bt139.47 billion from 2011. Its total liabilities increased 13.39 per cent to Bt1.09 trillion.
Revenue was up 19.38 per cent from 2011 to Bt67.07 billion in 2012 and total expenses up 17.39 per cent to Bt39.03 billion. BAAC posted a net profit of Bt9.08 billion, up 3.53 per cent, despite the perception that it would incur a loss from the rice-pledging scheme.
In fiscal 2013, BAAC hopes to secure Bt570 billion in new loans, and aims to improve its customer deposits to Bt82 billion.
BAAC has launched several projects to support government policies:
_ Credit cards for farmers. BAAC has so far approved 2.1 million of these cards, of which 1.38 million were issued to farmers who have used them to secure loans totalling Bt3.73 billion to buy factors of production, such as fertiliser (74 per cent), seeds (6 per cent), agricultural-related chemicals (6 per cent) and fuel (12 per cent)
_ Debt moratorium for low-income earners and small-scale farmers with debts not exceeding Bt500,000. This offer drew 784,000 people applying to place their 2011 debts totalling Bt44.21 billion under the moratorium scheme on March 31. About 2 million people placed their 2012 debts totalling Bt196 billion under the scheme.
_ Rice-pledging scheme for the 2012-13 harvest season. BAAC has entered contracts with and paid more than 1.75 million farmers for 11.45 million tonnes of rice worth Bt184 billion. The Foreign Trade Department has distributed the pledged rice and refunded Bt10.07 billion to BAAC and the Marketing Organisation for Farmers for the pledged rice.
_ Tapioca pledging project for the 2012-13 crop. BAAC paid 171,000 farmers for 8.26 million tonnes of fresh cassava worth Bt22.48 billion.
