Thailand saw a slowdown in foreign capital inflows in May but has yet to pinpoint if the baht value is on a declining trend, according to a Bank of Thailand (BoT) executive.
Mathee Supapongse, senior director of the BoT’s Macroeconomic and Monetary Policy Department, said Thailand’s economy was stagnant in April but it should successively expand in Q2 thanks to the cut on policy interest rate by 0.25 percent, satisfactory consumer confidence index and the government’s economic stimulation.
The BoT will reassess this year’s economic figures in July before deciding if more actions will have to be taken, he said.
He said the central bank predicted gross domestic product (GDP) growth at 5.1 percent this year and 5 percent next year.
Foreign capital inflows in April were US$4.166 billion and there were signs of a slowdown in May, he said, adding that the private sector’s investment index shrank by 1.1 percent in April year-on-year in based on less active investment on machinery and equipment and the slow recovery of global economy.
The private sector’s consumer index expanded by 1.7 percent while farmers’ income dropped by 7.7 percent year-on-year.
Mathee said the kingdom’s exports reached US$17.251 billion, an increase of 3.7 percent while exporters were confident that the situation would improve in Q2.
Tourism has continually grown, by 2.1 million visitors during the first quarter of 2013, or a 21.6 percent increase, mostly from China and Russia, while the inflation rate was at 2.42 percent.
