The economy continued to slowdown in September on the back of a contraction in domestic consumption and exports, Kulaya Tantitemit, executive director of the Macroeconomic Policy Bureau at the Finance Ministry, said on Wednesday.
Revenue from value-added tax collection on domestic consumption in September contracted 19.4%, car sales went down 30.7% and motorcycle sales dropped 11.1%, due to a drop in the income of farmers caused by low agricultural product prices, she said.
Private investment in the months dropped 12.7% and exports were down 7.1%, she added.
Despite this, substantial expansion in the tourism sector had helped drive the economy, said Ms Kulaya, who is also deputy spokeswoman for the Fiscal Policy Office.
She said her bureau will revise its economic growth projection for 2013 in December, from its previous forecast of 3.7%.