Thailand approves $2.63 bln in loans, subsidies to help rice farmers.

Thailand’s cabinet approved three loan and subsidy programs for the country’s rice farmers to stabilize prices and reduce an oversupply of the grain. The three programs are worth a total of 87 billion baht ($2.63 billion) and include $2.2 billion of loans and subsidies for rice farmers already approved by Thailand’s rice management committee earlier this month. The $2.2 billion in spending will cover 3.7 million households and will span the seasonal harvest from the start of November this year to the end of February 2018.