The crop pledging price for rice may be reduced from the current 15,000 baht per tonne for ordinary rice, Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said on Thursday.
He was commenting ahead of a meeting of the National Rice Policy Committee Thursday, which was due to scrutinise the rice scheme's losses in the wake of estimates they total as much as 260 billion baht.
The committee, chaired by Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom, is the only agency that knows the exact losses incurred by the rice-pledging scheme, a flagship policy of the government.
Mr Kittiratt said the set price was suitable when the government first implemented the programme, but it is no longer a suitable price.
The baht’s strength had caused operational losses for the scheme, he admitted.
Bloomberg photo
“I am not saying that the rice scheme will be scrapped. But conditions for managing the economy can be adjusted or changed to suit the changing situation, similar to the increase or reduction of the policy rate by the central bank,” Mr Kittiratt said.
The minister said the government will carefully consider all related information and data before making any change to the pledging price.
Mr Kittiratt’s remark coincided with the latest opinion survey results released on Thursday by Nida Poll, of the National Institute of Development Administration (Nida).
Nida Poll reported that more than a third of people polled believe the government should adjust its rice pledging policy to minimise damage to the public purse.
The pollster conducted the survey regarding the Pheu Thai Party's rice scheme and its alleged 260-billion-baht losses on June 11-12, among 1,249 individuals nationwide.
When asked what the government should do if the rice policy did in fact incur 260-billion-baht losses, 38.51% said the government should modify the rice pledging price in accordance with market prices, but said the scheme should continue.
Some 20.82% suggested the government should offer a rice price guarantee, instead of the rice pledging scheme, but 21.38% said the programme should be scrapped because it is susceptible to corruption, is causing losses on an international scale, and uses up too much public money.
A total of 9.61% respondents said the current policy should continue without any adjustment. The remainder had no idea, or said they were unsure.
The survey meanwhile found that 37.71% of people polled believe the rice pledging policy has indeed led to 260-billion-baht losses.
Some 20.82% said the scheme did lose money, but not as much as the claimed amount, while 26.50% said they thought that the policy did not generate any loss. Others had no answer or were uncertain.
Questioned on who the beneficiaries of the rice scheme are, 36.60% said the government, 36.20% said rice mills, 34.03% said farmers, 29.86% said politicians and 14.04% said rice exporters.