Rice-pledging, price support or?

A rice farmers’ support programme has featured in Thai newspaper headlines for many days now, and has become a controversial issue. While the government plans shifting to a price support programme, farmer rice price demonstrators demand that the government maintain a rice-pledging programme, along with a quota increase.

Thai government bonds and their impact on the Thai economy

The Thai government has only recently issued its first lot of savings bonds worth Bt 80,000 million, aimed for sale to senior citizens, with a second lot aimed for sale to general savers. The bonds have a maturity period of five years with a yield rate of 3% in the first two years, 4% in the third year and 5% in the fourth and fifth years. The value of the third lot of bonds, destined for sale to institute buyers, has not yet been concluded, though Thailand’s finance minister has revealed its yield rate to be less than those of lots one and two.