The National Rice Policy Committee will today consider authorising Bt50 billion-Bt60 billion to support the government's intervention measures for the new rice crop.

The budget would be part of the Bt130-billion allocation under the second economic-stimulus scheme to stabilise the rice price and solve oversupply during the harvest season, a Commerce Ministry source said yesterday.

The meeting will also take up the guaranteed-price project, the pledging scheme for 2 million tonnes of rice from the market, soft loans for millers and traders that help buy rice at a fair price from farmers, and a budget for the Public Warehouse Organisation and the Marketing Organisation for Farmers.

The meeting will also consider measures to protect the rice industry from trade liberalisation next year under the Asean Free Trade Agreement.

The source said the committee chaired by the prime minister must today finalise the rice intervention funding and the Afta strategy.

The committee must also address a problem in the rice intervention project that started early this month.
Farmers cannot yet participate in the project because the government has not yet completed the list of registered farmers.

Source: The Nation