Exports down amid weak domestic spending: BOT – The Nation

Thailand’s export value in May totalled US$19.494 billion, a contraction of 5.1 per cent year on year, according to Bank of Thailand’s data.

The figure showed a slight difference from the Commerce Ministry’s, which stated that the monthly export contracted by 5.2 per cent. Commerce Ministry’s data is based on about 90 per cent of export-import orders.

In the report released today, Bank of Thailand attribute the export drop to the slowdown in exports of agricultural products, fishery, and manufacturing products – especially hard disk drives (HDD), integrated circuits and parts, processed agricultural goods, and petroleum products.

Still, it said that the overall economy moderated in line with private consumption, which was affected by rising household debt and waning fiscal stimulus.

In the month, unemployment edged up marginally while headline inflation softened to 2.27 per cent year on year following subdued core inflation and fresh food prices. The current account posted a deficit due to the repatriation of interest income and dividends. The capital account was in surplus because of financial institutions’ short-term borrowings to manage liquidity in the foreign exchange swap market. The balance of payments also registered a small surplus.

Private consumption also slowed down, as reflected in the Private Consumption Index (PCI) that contracted by 0.2 percent year-on-year. This followed the decline in car purchases and VAT collection, given that a large number of cars under the first-car scheme had already been delivered and households also became more cautious in their spending.

The weakness in exports and consumption, in turn, put a drag on manufacturing production and caused some investment decisions to be delayed. The Manufacturing Production Index (MPI) dropped by 7.8 per cent on year mainly from hard disk drives (HDD), integrated circuits and parts, frozen shrimps, and petroleum products. Production in the automobile industry, in addition, grew from April but at a moderated pace.