Caretaker govt must explain scheme funding sources: Democrats
The Democrat Party is calling on the caretaker government to make public the source or sources of the funds it will use to pay Bt4 billion a day to rice farmers, party spokesman Chavanond Inrarakomaltasut said on Monday.
The government is trying to pay to the farmers under the rice-pledging scheme as they are long overdue and the farmers are suffering as a result.
Chavanond noted that Caretaker Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan had affirmed that the government would start paying to the farmers for the rice pledged from February 17 at Bt4 billion per day. The minister said he expected that the government would pay for the Bt30billion loan within 35 to 40 days.
The Democrat Party supported the caretaker government in its attempts to settle the overdue payments to the rice farmers but did not believe that the government could seek loans right away, he added.
“The government has to explain that how it will transfer money to the branches of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) in the province to pay the farmers,” Chavanond said.
