The Bank of Thailand (BOT) released its monthly economic outlook on Friday.
The central bank said private investment and manufacturing production also improved in some sectors, while private consumption remained stable. However, the value of merchandise exports, excluding gold, declined from the previous month by 2.9% as exports of several industries remained sluggish. This is a result of a subdued recovery in global demand, a high level of inventory, as well as Thailand’s structural factors, the BOT said.
Public spending, excluding transfer payments, contracted from the same period last year from lower capital expenditure due to the delay in the passing of the fiscal year 2024 budget. Current expenditure by the central government also was lower due to the high base last year from the advance disbursement to educational agencies together with disbursement related to electricity cost reduction measures as well as tourism stimulus projects. Investments by state-owned enterprises also contracted due to the high base last year from disbursements for transportation projects.
Headline inflation saw lower contraction due to higher energy prices, as petrol prices rose with global crude oil prices. Meanwhile, core inflation increased slightly from the high base effect of prepared food last year despite a month-on-month increase in some items such as non-alcoholic beverages and food away from home category.
The labour market remained stable whereby lower manufacturing employment was offset by higher employment in the service sector, the BOT said, adding that the current account registered a surplus mainly due to a surplus in trade balance.
