BANGKOK, Dec 19 – Thailand’s monthly Industrial Sentiment Index (TISI) plummeted to its lowest in 24 months at 90.3 mainly due to the months-long political turmoil, an industrialist said today.
Payungsak Chartsuthipol, Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) chairman, said the latest TISI in November declined 2.5 points from 92.8 in October.
The political conflicts have an impact on the overall economy and consumption given decreasing purchase and sales orders, he said, calling for cooperation among all factions to urgently the disputes.
He said operators of small and medium industries have suffered from financial liquidity which compels them to slow down their investment and business expansion.
He predicted the index in the next three months at 101.4, a decline from 102.4 in October, adding that industrial operators’ sentiment index in November was also lowered in domestic and international markets.
Political issue has become the highest concern among industrialists in addition to the problems of oil price, currency exchange and borrowing interest rate, said Mr Payungsak.
The FTI chairman urged the public sector to extend low interest loans to ease small and medium enterprises’ liquidity and elevate their production standard to meet global requirement as well as boost their competitive edge.
The government should seriously and successively solve the political disputes and corruption, he said.
