Rice scheme produces over Bt500bn in loss
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A report by a Finance Ministry task force showed that the previous government's rice-pledging scheme has yielded over Bt500 billion in loss during the 2011/12 and 2012/13 harvest years.
The loss is based on the estimated cost of Bt23,000 a tonne, for the purchase of paddy rice at Bt15,000 per tonne and the polishing. Meanwhile, the white rice was sold at Bt12,000-Bt14,000 a tonne before the House dissolution and only Bt8 billion in the recent months.
The task force also concluded that 3 million tonnes of rice are missing from warehouses, while the stockpiles' quality is declining.
