Thai Govt plans B155bn aid for farmers hit by Covid, floods

The government plans to dole out 155 billion baht in cash to millions of farmers reeling from the impacts of Covid-19, floods, droughts, and poor crop prices.

The Cabinet will consider a program to allot the funds to growers of rice, rubber, oil palm, and other crops at a meeting next Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said in a statement on Facebook. The government will transfer the cash into the accounts of eligible farmers through the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, he said.

The payments will be expedited as price-support measures for rice, rubber, and palm oil as well as to prevent distress sales of agriculture produce, Gen Prayut said. Earlier on Wednesday, the nation’s monetary and fiscal policy committee approved raising the ratio of government borrowing from state banks to 35% of the federal budget outlay, from 30%, to fund the payout.

The largess for farmers comes amid growing speculation of an early election as Gen Prayut seeks to win over rural voters, a traditional support base of parties aligned to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The royalist-backed government has faced criticism over the handling of the Covid crisis from opposition parties and pro-democracy groups, which have been pressing for reforms to the constitution and monarchy.

The government will need to approve borrowing of between 80 billion baht to 90 billion baht to support the farmers, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said. The new borrowing ratio will be published in the Royal Gazette within two to three days, he said.

Mr Arkhom also said on Wednesday the government plans a further 76 billion baht support specifically for rice farmers affected by falling prices.

Flooding in September and October caused as much as 8.4 billion baht in damage to Thailand’s rice industry alone, exacerbating woes of farmers already hurt by the pandemic and poor prices, according to a report from Kasikorn Research, a unit of Kasikornbank Plc.

The money for farmers will help further bolster a nascent economic recovery, according to Amonthep Chawla, head of research at CIMB Bank Thai Plc.

“Fiscal support is needed to help drive the economy at least until the nation is fully reopened to foreign tourists,” Mr Amonthep said. “Farmers are suffering from low rice prices and floods. It’s appropriate for the government to continue fiscal support to fragile groups.”

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES