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The
wet season is under way, but Thailand is contending with drought
conditions in seven out of 67 provinces, the National Disaster
Warning Center said, and water rationing is taking place in
almost a third of the country.
Thailand's state-owned Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural
Cooperatives (BAAC) has approved loans for 1 million farmers,
following a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Sommai Phasee.
The loans will range from short-term funds for emergencies to
drought rehabilitation, to long-term assistance to increase farm
productivity, with repayment periods from one to ten years.
Farmers unable to immediately repay existing debt, because of
the drought, can also extend their debt periods, but by no more
than a year.
"Famers affected by drought will now receive help to alleviate
debt and will have money to spend for households in case of
emergencies," Sommai told reporters.
The loans will help farmers recover from drought, support jobs,
and develop production, he added.
Sommai reaffirmed an earlier statement that drought could cut
GDP growth by 0.5 percentage point although Thailand's economy
is expected to grow 3 percent in 2015 despite it.
"This year, if we can grow 3 percent that would not be too bad,"
he said. "If we can get 3 percent we wouldn't be worse off than
other countries."
The economy grew only 0.9 percent last year, with the political
crisis bringing it to the brink of recession in the first half.
The central bank recently cut its 2015 economic growth forecast
to 3.0 percent from 3.8 percent.
Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha led a military coup in May
last year, ending months of sometimes violent street protests in
Bangkok and ousting the government of Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra, Thailand's first woman prime minister.
(Reporting by Kitiphong Thaicharoen; Writing by Viparat
Jantraprap and Pairat Temphairojana; Editing by Jacqueline Wong
and Clarence Fernandez)
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