Cabinet approves debt suspension for farmers, Phase 2-3, using a budget of 23,172 million baht, moving forward with training to develop potential and restore careers, 3,000 baht per person.
Mr. Jirayu Huangsap, advisor to the Prime Minister, announced the results of the Cabinet meeting that the Cabinet approved the suspension of agricultural debt phases 2-3, including the development of debtor potential, to continue in 2026-2027, with a budget of 23,172 million baht after the first phase of the agricultural debt suspension project expires on September 30th, so that farmers can receive continuous assistance. There are 1.85 million farmers participating in the first phase of the project as of March 31st, 2024, with the outstanding principal of 240,836 million baht.
The government divided the debt suspension measures into phase 2, starting from 1 October 2024 – 30 September 2025, and phase 3, starting from 1 October 2025 – 30 September 2026, with a budget of 23,172 million baht. The government compensates far
mers for the interest on loans at 4.50 percent by allocating a budget to repay the BAAC annually. In addition, the government also subsidizes the cost of developing potential to rehabilitate debtors by 2,000 million baht for training 300,000 farmers per year at 3,000 baht per person for 2 years. Debtors participating in the debt suspension projects phases 2-3 will remain at the same debt level throughout the debt suspension period and will be exempted from the full amount of the late interest.
The debt burden that the government must repay according to the Fiscal Discipline Act on 6 August 2024 is 1.005 trillion baht. When the debt suspension phase 2-3 is approved, the government has an outstanding payment of 1.040 trillion baht, which is 29.895 percent of the 2024 budget (from a budget of 3.48 trillion baht), still not exceeding the 28 percent ceiling of the budget as specified by law.
The Cabinet agreed that the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and related agencies should
appropriately restructure debt for farmers, taking into account the potential of each debtor appropriately, along with measures to promote, upgrade, and increase farmers’ income under the concept of ‘Market-led, Innovation-enhanced, Increased Income’.
Mr. Jirayu added that the Cabinet meeting approved the use of the 2024 central budget of 7,125 million baht to promote the use of electric vehicles through the EV 3.0 measure. In the past, 6,800 million baht or 55,000 vehicles have been disbursed, hoping to continue promoting the use of electric vehicles among the public.
Source: Thai News Agency