BANGKOK, 19 June 2011 -The Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion (OSMEP) has revealed that rising fuel and commodity prices have made it difficult for investors to invest when the capital is short.
According to OSMEP Director Mr. Yutthasak Suphasorn, the SME confidence index in April had dropped to 45.6 from 48 in March. Both retail and service sectors saw the decline of 4 and 2 points within the same period respectively.
The economic confidence index declined from March to April by 1 point to 35 given the continuous rising costs of production and the cost of living.
Retail and service sectors saw a significant drop in terms of economic index with the decline of 7 and 9 points respectively. This has also forced gas stations to replaced fuel with natural gas in a bid to cut cost.
Geographically, confidence indexes have declined significantly in the Central, Eastern, Western and Northeastern regions.
