the Kingdom's struggling rice-milling industry, officials said
yesterday.
The move comes as the Cambodian government has called on the private
sector to boost loans to rice millers during the harvest season as a
way to curb paddy exports to neighbouring countries.
ANZ Royal Bank and Canadia Bank said yesterday they would prioritise
lending to rice millers given the government presently lacks the funds
necessary to subsidise the still-developing sector.
"ANZ Royal is very keen to expand it's lending to rice millers. In
fact, I'd be happy to make $100 million available today for millers
with the right credit quality," CEO Stephen Higgins said.
The lending market to rice millers is very competitive at the moment,
Higgins noted, as many banks have been aggressive in chasing potential
customers.
Canadia has also set aside $100 million to loan to the agriculture
sector, especially rice millers, Vice President Dieter Billmeier said
yesterday. He noted that agriculture loans account for 8 per cent of
all the bank's loans, and the rice industry comprises a significant
part of that lending.
The government has reached out to the private sector to provide
much-needed capital to rice millers, as public funding as of now
cannot meet the industry's need.
"The problem is a lack of capital to buy rice for stock. We need
US$200 million to $300 million. If we don't have enough, the rice will
flow to other countries," Son Koun Thor, general director of state-run
Rural Development Bank, said on Monday.
RDB holds $60 million in working capital for loans to rice millers,
Son Koun Thor said. Beyond that figure, some commercial banks are
working with the industry as well.
Chhun Thom, a rice miller in Prey Veng province, where most unmilled
rice is shipped to Vietnam, agreed that paddy-buying capacity is
constrained by companies' small budgets.
"Of course, we got some money from the bank, but it is still limited
unless we have enough collateral" to ensure the loans, he said. "But
if we don't have that collateral, we cannot get the loans."
Prime Minister Hun Sen had said previously that Cambodia will export 1
million tonnes of milled rice by 2015, however experts have countered
that the country lacks the milling capacity necessary to meet that
goal.
Much of the country's unmilled rice is shipped to Thailand and Vietnam
for processing. As a result, help from the private sector will be
crucial, Son Koun Thor said.
Banks offer millions to millers
Rann Reuy and May Kunmakara
23 November 2011
