KMT says it supports financial reform

The KMT said yesterday that it supports the setting up of agricultural banks while retaining credit departments of the farmers' and fishermen's associations.

On the eve of a national agricultural finance conference, the KMT legislative caucus called a press conference attended by KMT official Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) and legislators Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻), Hsu Shu-po (許舒博), Lee Chia-chin (李嘉進), Kuo Tien-tsai (郭添財) and Chen Chieh (陳杰), as well as Lin Shiang-nung (林享能), a former chairman of the Council of Agriculture.

Tseng said that the KMT backs the government's efforts in agricultural financial reforms and believes it should deal harshly with poorly performing credit units of the farmers' and fishermen's associations.

However, the party opposes the wiping out of the credit co-ops, on which farmers and fishermen depend, Tseng said.

Tseng urged the government to pay attention to the KMT's version of an agricultural finance bill, which would set up agricultural banks and retain the associations's credit units.

Today's conference comes one week after a massive demonstration by 120,000 fishermen and farmers who wanted to vent their anger at the government's planned reforms for the debt-ridden credit units, which they see as an attempt to wipe out the institutions altogether.

The government promised to suspend the reforms before the protest, but the demonstrators, who also wanted to show their discontent over the government's handling of the plight of the rural sector in the wake of the nation's entry into the WTO, went ahead with the demonstration.

They also said that if the government fails to address their woes, they will mount another protest.