Commerce Ministry seeks Bt1.4bn to offer cut-price everyday goods

Minister Jurin Laksanawisit announced the subsidy move after visiting a Tesco-Lotus mall in Bangkok’s Rattanathibet area to inspect prices.

He said he will ask the Cabinet on Tuesday to approve Bt1.4 billion from the central fund to subsidise cheaper consumer goods at alternative shops.

The project will last three months and will intervene in the market in a bid to bring down prices, he said.

The Commerce Ministry is also trying to lower prices of major foods by balancing the needs of both farmers and consumers, Jurin added. The price of pork has soared to around 240 baht per kilo since New Year, while prices for chicken and eggs are also rising.

Jurin said the increase was caused by a pig shortage and the Commerce Ministry had reacted by imposing 3-month ban on pork exports that should add about 1 million pigs to the market.

He added that the Commerce Ministry will also sell pork at the subsidised price of Bt150 per kilo at 667 “blue-flag” outlets around the country while promoting alternative protein sources. Meanwhile, it will boost production by small-time pig farmers by offering cheap loans of Bt300,000 via the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives. The move should add about 300,000 piglets to the system, Jurin said.

On the rising egg prices, he said hen farmers, middlemen, supermarkets and exporters have promised to help fix the farm-gate price at Bt2.90 per egg until the situation eases.

He said the Internal Trade Department will meet on January 17 with representatives of chicken farmers and other producers to seek ways of preventing the price of chicken from rising further.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry will sell chicken at below market price at 3,050 outlets nationwide. They include 1,500 PT petrol stations, public parks, convenience stores and markets, the minister added.