The Commerce Ministry has announced an unexpected u-turn on Thailand’s export growth in April from an earlier report at 10.52 percent to a 2.89 percent year-on-year.
Vatchari Vimooktayon, permanent secretary for commerce, said the correct volume of Thailand’s exports in April was US$17.409 billion, or a 2.89 percent increase from April 2012.
In baht terms, April’s exports were Bt506.210 billion, or 1.89 percent lower than the same period last year, she said.
In a press conference on May 23, Ms Vatchari reported Thailand’s export volume in April at US$18.698 billion, or a percentage growth of 10.52 year-on-year.
She also reported on that day the country’s exports to Hong Kong reached US$2.177 billion, or a surge by 176.6 percent compared to April 2012.
Vatchari said a review with the Customs Department found an error in the export figure to Hong Kong, which when corrected was only US$887 million, and not US$2.177 billion as earlier announced.
“After all the figures were consolidated, we found that the country’s exports in April increased by only 2.89 percent,” she admitted.
