The Finance Ministry is prepared to raise the loan guarantee for the rice-pledging scheme by Bt70 billion to Bt220 billion, according to an official of Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).

BAAC is carrying out the scheme, through a loan guaranteed by the ministry. The Cabinet earlier approved the financial backup worth Bt150 billion.

Wanchai Siriwatanatrakul, a director in charge of government policies, said that the ministry will come up with additional guarantee for the pledging of rice in the 2012-2013 harvest season.

He noted that the guaranteed amount must be expanded as BAAC has spent Bt113 billion for the pledging of 7.54 million tonnes of rice. It is estimated that the Commerce Ministry would reap only Bt40.9 billion from the releases of stocks.

"We are rushing the Commerce Ministry to quickly repatriate the sum to BAAC, so that we can use it for this harvest season. From the discussion with the Finance Ministry, it is possible that the ministry will need to expand the guaranteed amount while BAAC is waiting for the sum from the Commerce Ministry," Wanchai said.

Source: The Nation