BANGKOK, 19 July 2013 The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) has revealed that the declining industrial confidence index in June was due to lower domestic spending, ambiguous economic direction as well as political issues.
According to the FTI, the survey was conducted on 1,039 manufacturers in 42 industries, with sales, productivity and profitability levels being factored in. The survey disclosed that the industrial confidence index in June dropped to 93.1 from 94.3 in the previous month.
It also indicated that respondents believed issues such as political conflicts, the slowdown in consumer spending and the lack of concrete economic stimulus approaches were affecting their businesses.
Several agencies have revised economic growth projections as the export sector begins to experience slower growth while the cost of production is also on the rise. The FTI said such factors will continue to affect the industrial confidence index in the next 3 months.
Businessmen, according to the FTI, are most concerned by possible impacts from the global economy, oil prices, the political situation in the country and the exchange and interest rates respectively.
They want the government to come up with measures to stimulate economic growth in the latter half of this year, strengthen trade cooperation with neighboring countries to facilitate Thai SMEs’ market expansions, and encourage Thai consumers to support local products rather than imported items.
