Pledge price for Thai rice restored to Bt15,000/tonne

BANGKOK, July 1 (TNA) - The National Rice Policy Committee (NRPC) has resolved that the government's pledge price for Thai rice be raised to 15,000 baht per tonne again, showing a bow to local farmers’ strong opposition to its resolution last month to reduce the rice pledge price to 12,000 baht per tonne. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong, in his capacity as the chair of the NRPC, told journalists on Monday that the panel agreed at its latest meeting in Bangkok earlier in the day to restore the pledge price at 15,000 baht per tonne for 100 per cent paddy with 15 per cent moisture, so do the pledge prices for other kinds of white rice. Kittirat said the NRPC will seek the Cabinet's approval for the decision on July 2, acknowledging that, under the resolution taking effect until November 30, 2013, each household of farmers can pledge rice worth up to 500,000 baht. According to the deputy prime minister, local farmers who pledged their rice at 12,000 baht per tonne from June 30-July 2, 2013, based on the NRPC's previous resolution, will receive the differential and the NRPC will consider a suitable pledge price for the next growing season later. The Thai deputy premier, who oversees economic affairs, confirmed that the restored 15,000-baht rice pledge price will not affect Thailand's fiscal discipline, insisting that the government's spending of about 345 billion baht on its rice pledging scheme in the 2012/2013 growing season has remained within its 500-billion-baht spending ceiling for the scheme. (TNA)