Rice-pledging scheme helped country: Wattana
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Former commerce minister Wattana Muangsuk Sunday defended the rice-pledging scheme against allegations it distorted the market mechanism and caused losses, saying it was a public policy aimed at stimulating the economy and domestic consumption.
The ex-minister defended the scrapped scheme ahead of this month’s scheduled start of the trial of ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders over her alleged negligence over the scheme and her failure to stop corruption and estimated losses to the state of at least Bt500 billion.
“The rice pledging scheme was implemented under a strict financial and monetary discipline,” Wattana said. “The government was able to keep the fiscal balance by ensuring that the state expenses and present and future financial commitments were at a manageable level that the government was able to finance.
“The country enjoyed financial stability. The allegations that the project shouldered heavy losses and the government set aside a huge budget or sought loans to write off losses, creating bad debts and putting the country’s financial system at risk of being bankrupt, was a misunderstanding and false.’’
Wattana said the Yingluck government implemented the rice-pledging scheme by intervening in the market mechanism under a pubic policy protected by Article 84 (8) of the now-defunct 2007 Constitution.
