BANGKOK, 1 May 2014 – The prolonged political turmoil has been afflicting the Thai economy including wholesale and retail businesses.
According to the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s Retail and Wholesale Business Committee chairman Piyawat Titasattavorakul, the country’s retail and wholesale businesses continued to slow down in the first quarter amid the ongoing political crisis, with a growth rate of only 2 percent. He said the conflict was the main factor that caused investors and consumers to lose confidence, given the lower spending by the two groups.
In addition, he said commercial banks had been very strict on loan issuance while people’s living expenses were higher and higher.
He noted that the country’s wholesale and retail businesses have a good chance of bouncing back once a new government is formed. He believed that when new government incentives are put in place, the wholesale and retail sectors will improve in the latter half of the year, resulting in an estimated expansion of 5 percent for the entire year.
