TMB Warning: Entrepreneurial Confidence Index in Q1 continues to fall

Thai Military Bank (TMB)’s research unit, TMB Analytics, says that Thailand’s Entrepreneurial Confidence Index (ECI) in Q1 continues to drop due to concerns about the country’s internal politics and economy.
Benjarong Suwankiri, TMB director of economic analysis, said the ECI in Q1 stood at 37.6, down from 40.9 in Q4 last year. She said the latest index is considered at a low level, for entrepreneurs lacked confidence on their businesses’ revenues.
She said entrepreneurs were most concerned about the political factor, particularly that coming in Q2 when mass rallies will be held by both the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) and the pro-government United Front For Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), in tandem with court verdicts for political cases scheduled this month.
Entrepreneurs are also stressed due to the country’s economic slowdown as seen by the related index standing at 41 percent in March, down from 26 percent in January. (MCOT)

Thailand ready to be production hub for electric appliances

Thailand is ready to become the production hub for electrical appliances following the upcoming launch of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and improved signs of exports to US and Japanese markets.
Nantawan Sakultanak, director-general of the International Trade Promotion Department, said the value of electric appliances exports reached over US$6 billion. She believed the sector’s exports this year will reach its target of a five-percent expansion.
She said the export trend for electric appliances this year should adjust positively compared to last year, as the world’s economy this year expanded higher than last year, while US and Japanese markets have started to pick up with better purchasing power and Asian economies have seen signs of improvements.
Thailand has set a goal of electric appliance exports this year at US$24.1 billion or a 5 percent expansion. In Q1, the country could see a growth of 4.9 percent in electric appliance exports, worth US$5.8 billion.
Items to be exported more in June and July this year are television sets and digital television sets due to the upcoming World Cup tournament next month. The market share for Japan, US and China together account for 35 percent, while markets with high growth potential are the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Vietnam and South Korea. (MCOT)

FTI concerned about unemployment for graduates

The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) is concerned that new graduates are facing unemployment due to the Thai economic slowdown.
FTI Vice Chairman Wallop Wittanakorn said the economic slowdown due to the ongoing political confusion has resulted in lower consumer spending and exports, while production in the industrial sector has also been affected. Full production levels have not been achieved, therefore work expansion has come to a halt, leading to no more new jobs, production on a holding pattern, and reduced overtime for present workers.
Wallop said the private sector wished to see an election and the forming of a government for budget approvals. Otherwise, the Thai economy will go to recession, he said, and labor will face unemployment problems, particularly for new graduates.
The FTI executive said there are 400,000 new Thai graduates per year, with 150,000 of them likely to be unemployed. If a government cannot be formed in the next six months, the accumulated number of unemployed could reach more than 500,000, he added. (MCOT)

Retail, wholesale in Q2 continues slowing

Thailand’s retail and wholesale trading sector performance in Q2 continues to slow due to the ongoing political confusion bringing about lower purchasing power.
Piyawat Titasattavorakul, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s Retail and Wholesale Business Committee, said he admitted the prolonged political protest has caused the general public and investors to lose confidence in their spending and investments.
He said commercial banks have also been more strict when giving out loans, while the inflation rate tends to rise, given the public’s debts and cost of living and that the inflation rate in March expanded 2.11 percent, its highest in 9 months. Consequently, retail business in Q2 expanded only slightly by 2-3 percent.
However, Piyawat viewed said positive factors are coming from the fact that the world economy is picking up from increased border trade, and the welcome entry of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. This will help promote private sector spending, and push the Thai retail business in the second half of the year to recover and grow 5 percent for this year.
If a new government cannot be formed by the end of the year, the chairman said the retail would grow only 2 percent. (MCOT)