BANGKOK- The Thai industrial sentiment index rose in January on increased domestic demand, tourism, and exports, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said on Wednesday.
FTI said its industrial sentiment index in January increased to 90.6 from 88.8 in the previous month.
Spending during the Lunar New Year, government visa-free travel programs as well as a tax break on spending all supported sentiment, the FTI said.
Thailand received 5.2 million foreign tourist arrivals from Jan 1. to Feb. 18, up 49 percent from a year earlier. The government expects about 34-35 million visitors this year.
Another industrial index that projects sentiment over the next three months also picked up in January, helped by improved domestic and external demand as well as government measures to tackle high household debt problems.
Thailand’s economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter of 2023 and policymakers downgraded the outlook for this year, adding to pressure on the central bank to give in to the prime minister’s demands for a rate cut.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who is also the finance minister, has been at loggerheads with the Bank of Thailand (BOT) over the direction of monetary policy, repeatedly saying rate cuts will help the economy he describes as being in crisis as it confronts high household debt and China’s slowdown.
Gross domestic product fell a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter, National Economic and Social Development Council data showed on Monday, down from a revised 0.6 percent rise in the third quarter. The first quarterly contraction in a year compares with a 0.1 percent rise forecast in a Reuters poll.
