Commerce defends rice-pledging scheme
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Deputy Commerce Minister Yanyong Phuangrach Wednesday defended that the government's rice-pledging scheme is to help farmers.
This helps boost the economy, as farmers' income will rise and their debt will decline. As such, their purchasing power is increasing, he said.
He also noted that the government would proceed with the scheme, as its aim is to help farmers not to generate profits.
The International Monetary Fund suggested the government changed the financing method for the scheme. The rice scheme should be part of the annual budgets, it said.
The government's scheme is now carried out by the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.
The IMF said in the Article VI Consultation with Thailand that the off-budget financing could be one of the factors that push Thailand's public dect to 53 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018.
