Reflection of Jeonnam Province's Proposal to Extend the Repayment Period for RPC Rice Purchase Funds

KRW 500 Billion Over 3 Months... Expected to Ease Fiscal Burden and Maintain Appropriate Rice Prices

Jeonnam Province's request to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation to extend the repayment period for the 2023 rice purchase loan at the Rice Processing Complex (RPC) has been reflected.

As a result, the repayment period for the 500 billion KRW rice purchase loan, which was due by June, will be extended by three months.

According to Jeonnam Province on the 1st, despite the government's announcement of measures to stabilize rice prices in February, prices have not rebounded, and as the repayment period for rice purchase loans at some Rice Processing Complexes has arrived, sales at prices lower than the market price have occurred to secure loan repayments.

In particular, the rice purchase volume by the Jeonnam Nonghyup in 2023 was 528,000 tons, the largest ever, and recently, with rising inflation and an increase in restaurant closures, rice consumption has decreased, increasing the inventory burden on the Nonghyup Rice Processing Complex.

Accordingly, on the 17th of last month, Jeonnam Province requested the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation to extend the repayment period for the 2023 Rice Processing Complex rice purchase loan from June to August, a two-month extension, to stabilize rice prices.

With the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation's announcement of a three-month extension for the rice purchase loan, the burden on local Nonghyup Rice Processing Complexes is expected to ease, leading to the maintenance of appropriate rice prices, price increases, and stable income generation for farmers.

Jeong Gwang-hyun, Director of the Agriculture, Livestock and Food Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, “With the decision to extend the rice purchase loan, the financial burden on the Nonghyup Rice Processing Complex will decrease, and normal local rice prices are expected to form. We will also develop and implement independent rice consumption promotion measures to respond to the annually decreasing rice consumption.”

Jeonnam Province plans to hold a countermeasure meeting with Nonghyup and private Rice Processing Complex officials to proactively submit suggestions to the government based on the collected opinions for preemptive rice price response.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.