Thai Cabinet nods for proping up rubber prices to B120/kg

BANGKOK, January 24 (TNA) - The Thai Cabinet approved Tuesday a plan on driving up the price of locally-grown natural rubber to 120 baht per kilogram, from about 107 baht per kilogram currently. Deputy Government Spokesperson Anusorn Iamsa-ard told reporters that the plan, proposed by the National Rubber Policy Committee which is chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittirat Na Ranong, was in response to a recent plunge of Thailand's natural rubber price due to impacts from the global economic downturn, a tsunami disaster in Japan in March 2011 and a worst flooding crisis in Thailand late last year which has temporarily suspended the country's production of automobiles and parts. The deputy government spokesman acknowledged that China has also slowed down its purchase of Thai natural rubber and has, instead, switched to cheaper Indonesian rubber, and that, as the result, the price of Thailand's natural rubber tumbled to its lowest record, at 85 baht per kilogram at the end of 2011, before rebounding to some 107 baht per kilogram now; while the Thai government will be further propping up the Thai rubber price to 120 baht per kilogram. To help rubber farmers, according to the deputy government spokesperson, the Thai government, through the Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC), is offering soft loans of 5 billion baht to local agricultural institutes and another 10 billion baht soft loan to the Rubber Estate Organization, both with zero per cent interest, to purchase natural rubber from local rubber farmers to be processed and sold at rational prices in the future. (TNA)