Millers shun rice crisis loan fund
Rice millers have taken up less than a quarter of a $27 million emergency loan fund to stabilise prices of the grain, blaming late disbursement for the poor take up. Following a price crash last year, the government told the Rural Development Bank to disburse the loans to millers to buy paddy rice from farmers at 840 riel ($0.21) per kg. The rice was to be stored in warehouses and processed for export. But Kao Thach, chief executive of RDB, said few millers applied for the loans. “Five rice millers asked for loans totalling nearly $5 million,” Mr. Thach said.
