Consumption up, investment down; recovery patchy

Consumption up, investment down; recovery patchy

(Bangkok Post photo)
(Bangkok Post photo)

Thailand's private consumption rose in May but investment contracted from the previous month while annual exports jumped, central bank data showed on Friday, suggesting the economic recovery was still uneven.

The Bank of Thailand's (BOT) private consumption index for May rose 1.3% from the previous month, when it had fallen 0.3%. But the index for private investment dipped 0.2% in May from April, when it had fallen 0.1%.

The BOT said there was a current account surplus of $1.13 billion in May, after a $2.91 billion surplus in April.

Exports, based on financial settlements, rose 10.6% in May from a year earlier after April's 5.9% increase, the central bank said. A recovery in exports, a traditional growth driver, is a boost to Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, whose growth has lagged regional peers in recent years.

The economy is expected to grow faster in the second half, a central bank official told a news conference.

The BOT has forecast a 3.4% economic growth this year, with exports rising 2.2%. It will review those forecasts next week.

The economy grew 3.2% last year. 

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