BANGKOK: Thailand’s manufacturing production index in November dropped 4.71% from a year earlier, the industry ministry said on Thursday.
The figure compared with a forecast for a 4.0% year-on-year fall for November in a Reuters poll, and followed October’s 4.31% revised decline.
The index dropped 5.01% in the January to November period.
The contraction was driven by slow economic growth due to high household debt and high interest rates, which have held back consumption and investment, said Warawan Chitaroon said, head of the Office of Industrial Economics.
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy grew much lower than expected, at 1.5%, in the July-September quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace this year, on weak exports and government spending.
Other economic indicators showed “cautious signals” including a lower business confidence index due to lower purchasing power and a dragging construction sector due to a delayed 2024 budget, she said, adding there was also concern over a hike in the daily minimum wage.
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December’s factory output index is expected to also decline, the Industry Ministry said. However, the country’s tourism industry was still expanding, generating more demand for food products.
Thailand has welcomed 27.25 million tourists so far with the government expecting 28 million foreign arrivals for the full year, still below the pre-COVID record of nearly 40 million arrivals.
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