BANGKOK, 10 May 2012 – The latest survey found that most consumers remained wary about the local economic conditions.
The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC)’s Center for Economic and Business Forecasting Director Thanavath Pholvichai said on Wednesday that a survey on public spending ahead of the start of a new school term showed the amount Thai consumers have spent went up by more than 50 billion baht, when compared with the average collected during the same period of 2010-2011.
Mr. Thanavath stated that the increase, which is equivalent to a 7-percent rise, indicated that Thai economy is still to recover further. This is in spite of 7 consecutive months of improvement in consumer confidence.
He said that higher confidence finding was attributed by the fact that high-income earners have been increasingly aware about the pace of economic recovery and low-income earners have been more careful in spending.
The Center for Economic and Business Forecasting Director added that Thai economy remains fragile due to political instability in Greece that has put the world economy at risk.
Mr. Thanavath suggested that the government should inject more liquidity into the system via several economic stimulus programs, such as the flood prevention measures and the promotion of soft-loan policies by the Bank of Thailand, in order to allow consumers more cash in their pockets to spend on cheap and essential items.
