© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A farmer sprays paddy seeds in a rice area in Chainat province, Thailand, August 31, 2023. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/file picture
BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand’s cupboard has authorised a plan to droop debt repayments for thousands and thousands of farmers for 3 years at a complete value of about 33 billion baht ($908 million) to the federal government, a deputy finance minister stated on Tuesday.
The suspension of each the principal and curiosity funds will start on Oct. 1, Julapun Amornvivat advised reporters, including that farmers who’ve saved up with curiosity funds would even be allowed to borrow as much as 100,000 baht from the state-owned Financial institution for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives.
The intention of the measure is to assist ease the burdens of farmers in order that they “come again sturdy”, he stated. About 2.7 million farmers are eligible to affix the programme.
Thailand, the world’s second largest rice exporter, has one among Asia’s highest ranges of family debt.
In 2021, 66.7% of all agricultural households have been in debt, largely from farming-related actions, in response to authorities information. Many farming households are financially burdened after borrowing to fund their crops, with debt spanning generations.
The debt plan is a part of a sequence of measures ready by the brand new populist authorities, which took workplace final month, to revive a sluggish economic system weighed down declining exports and falling investor confidence.
The suspension will value the federal government about 11 billion baht ($302.8 million) per yr, Julapun stated, including that the cupboard authorised about 12 billion baht on Tuesday.
($1 = 36.34 baht)