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[TheYenta]

"A budget proposal of almost 10 billion baht aimed at buying back farmers' debts was rejected at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Deputy government spokesman Puttipong Punnakan said the cabinet refused to approve the fiscal budget proposed by the Farmers Rehabilitation and Development Fund for fear of farmers in other sectors would want help too.

The proposed budget planned to buy back debts worth a combined 9.7 billion baht owed by around 62,000 farmers from creditors such as the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) and commercial banks. Mr Puttipong said the fund was told to reconsider its proposal in order to not overspend state funds.

To alleviate the government burden to some extent, the fund should convince financial institutions to sell the farmers' debts at prices far below the principal as much as possible. The cabinet was concerned that approval would do more harm than good to the government as it would justify action by other groups of farmers to seek financial assistance from the state.

The disappointed farmers from the Indebted Farmers Network vowed to keep protesting outside Government House until their problems were solved."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/13...s-help-rejected