PHNOM PENH, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government has provided a special bailout of 30 million U.S. dollars to buy paddy rice from farmers, helping stabilize the market amid the dramatic paddy rice prices, an official said.
Speaking at a press conference live televised Wednesday night, Kao Thach, chief executive officer of the state-owned Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, said the government has always paid high attention to the agricultural sector, especially to the livelihoods of the farmers.
"To stabilize the price of paddy rice, the government decided today to provide an additional special bailout of 30 million U.S. dollars through the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank to purchase paddy rice from farmers," he said.
The latest move came after the price of OM rice varieties dropped significantly to about 800 riels (0.2 U.S. dollar) per kilogram since January this year from about 1,350 riels (0.33 dollar) per kilogram in previous years.
According to Thach, since 2016, the government has given a special bailout of more than 200 million dollars to keep the price of paddy rice stable. ■