BANGKOK- Thailand’s industrial sentiment dropped in December after rising in the previous month, as high debt restrained consumer spending and as exports faced higher freights amid Red Sea attacks, an industries group said on Wednesday.
The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) said its industrial sentiment index in December dropped to 88.8 from 90.9 in the previous month.
“Consumers’ purchasing power has yet to fully recover due to high household debt problems… the construction sector also slowed,” the FTI said in a statement.
While facing rising freights, exports should be supported by improved global demand, the FTI said.
Another industrial index that projects sentiment over the next three months also fell in December, hurt by concerns over wage hikes and geopolitical conflicts, the FTI said.
Thailand’s exports in October rose at the fastest annual pace in more than a year but less than expected, and the commerce ministry said full-year exports would still show a small contraction.
Customs-based exports, a key driver of Thailand’s economy, climbed 8.0 percent in October from a year earlier, the fastest since June 2022, compared with a forecast rise of 9.3 percent on-year in a Reuters poll.
