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Tuesday 2 November 9:16 PM
Thai Cabinet OKs Plan To Assist Poultry ExportersBANGKOK (Dow Jones)--The Thai cabinet approved at its weekly meeting Tuesday a plan to help ease financial difficulties among poultry exporters amid the reemergence of bird flu, said Deputy Commerce Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Under the plan, the government agreed that state banks Krung Thai Bank (KTB.TH) and Siam City Bank (SCIB.TH) should extend soft loans totaling around THB5 billion, equivalent to around 100,000 metric tons of poultry, to exporters to use as capital with Thai poultry exports hit by fears of bird flu, Anutin said. The interest rates for the soft loans will be lower than market levels, Anutin said, adding that the actual rates haven't been agreed on yet. "This is a bridge financing (measure) to exporters while the government looks for markets for (poultry exports)." Countries have banned fresh and frozen poultry from Thailand, with some importers - including Japan and the European Union, the two largest importers of Thai poultry - accepting only cooked chicken exports from Thailand. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said earlier that Russia is interested in bartering weapons for Thai chickens. He also told Thai ambassadors to seek more such barter deals. Before the emergence of bird flu in Thailand in January, Thailand was the world's fourth largest chicken exporter after the U.S., Brazil and China. -By Nitsara Srihanam, Dow Jones Newswires; 662-266-0744; nitsara.srihanam@dowjones.com -Edited by George Bernard
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