The state-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) plans to offer 30 billion baht worth of low-interest loans, with no interest charges for the first three months, to farmers cultivating crops with short lifespans to ease their financial burden.
The loan, which will seek approval from the bank's board next Monday, will also be extended to farmers who want to borrow to buy raw materials, said Finance Minister Sommai Phasee. The goal is to help farmers start growing crops when the drought ends.
The one-year maturity loans will be charged 7% interest for the final nine months, averaging 4% per annum. However, farmers who secure a loan in this scheme are required to buy a crop insurance policy.
The bank will provide another 30 billion baht worth of loans with a three-year maturity for growing crops with longer lifespans. The interest rate charged will be 7% per annum.
Farmers, particularly those in the Central, North and Northeast regions, are scrambling to survive the worst drought in over a decade. It is another blow in addition to the low crop prices and high household debt.
In the meantime, Mr Sommai expressed confidence that at least 90% of the 2.575-trillion-baht fiscal 2015 budget and 86% of the 449-billion-baht investment budget will be disbursed.
As of June 30, 63.25% of the budget expenditure was drawn down. The fiscal year runs from Oct 1 to Sept 30.
Public investment and state spending are the main engines driving the country's economic growth, as exports, domestic consumption and private investment have all remained in a quagmire.
The Bank of Thailand recently said the country's economic recovery in May continued at a slow and fragile pace despite two successive policy rate cuts, while global economic uncertainty and the local drought pose further downside risks to growth. The central bank earlier trimmed its GDP forecast for this year to 3% from 3.8%, predicting shipments would shrink by 1.5%. However, the latest forecast did not take the newly intensified drought into account.
Mr Sommai said the ministry asked state agencies to get new projects ready before the 2016 fiscal budget bill is debated by the National Legislative Assembly.