Ms. Kulaya Tantitemit, Executive Director of Macroeconomic Policy Bureau, acting Deputy Spokesperson of the Fiscal Policy Office announced that, "Economic indicators September and the 3 rd quarter of 2013 showed slowing signs from previous period. For the private consumption indicator, real VAT collection in September 2013 and the 3 rd quarter of 2013 decreased by -19.4 percent and -7.3 percent, respectively, due to declined VAT collection on domestic consumption and high base from the previous period. Economic indicator in machinery also showed slowing signs from the previous period as import of capital goods in September and the 3 rd quarter of 2013 decreased by -12.7 percent and -7.9 percent respectively. However, construction sector still expand as cement sales in September and the 3 rd quarter of 2013 expanded by 3.4 percent and 3.0 percent respectively. This reflected the continued expansion of real estate market since its recovery in the second half of 2012. It is in tandem with real estate tax collection in September and the 3 rd quarter of 2013 which expanded 12.6 percent and 22.0 percent, respectively. Further, export showed slowing signs where total export value in US Dollars in September 2013 decreased by -7.1 percent due to weak demand in major markets, such as Australia Japan and Singapore. However, some export items picked up well in September 2013. Agriculture and agromanufacturing products expanded by 4.4 percent and 1.0 percent respectively which were mostly from rice, tapioca, and processed chicken. This is in tandem with expansion in electronics and automotive export. Although export in the 3 rd quarter of 2013 decreased by -1.7 percent, value of export to the US and EU began to grow by 0.7 percent and 8.5 percent, respectively. Moreover, ASEAN markets also grew well with an expansion of 1.5 percent from previous month after seasonal adjustment (m-o-m SA).
Economic stability remained robust both on internal and external sides. Headline inflation in September 2013 was at 1.4 percent, decreased from previous month. Meanwhile, core inflation rate was at 0.6 percent. As such, headline and core inflations in Q3/2013 registered at 1.7 and 0.5 percent, respectively. Unemployment rate in August 2013 stood at 0.8 percent of total labor force. Public debt to GDP ratio at the end of August 2013 stood at 44.6 percent, well below the 60 percent level under the Fiscal Sustainability Framework. Likewise, external economic stability remained robust and resilient to the risk from volatilities in the global economy.
Mrs. Wiparat Panpiemras, Director of the Macroeconomic Model and Forecasting Division, further elaborated "For the Thai economy on supply side, service sector as reflected by tourism indicators in September and the 3 rd quarter of 2013 showed continued expansion where the number of inbound tourists increased by 27.6 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively. This huge expansion was mainly owing to inbound tourists from China and Malaysia. The agricultural sector's indicators showed slowing signs as measured by Agricultural Production Index (API) in September and the 3 rd quarter of 2013 which decreased by -4.3 percent and -3.4 percent, respectively. This was mainly due to a slowdown in agriculture production, especially rice from drought and shrimp from Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS). This is in tandem with manufacturing sector where Manufacturing Production Index (MPI) in September and the 3rd quarter of 2013 contracted by -2.9 percent and -3.6 percent respectively. This was partly due to decelerating in food industry, especially frozen shrimp from the EMS disease and slowdown in automotive after accelerating in the previous period. However, some industries showed recovering signs as clothing & attire industry began to expand in the 3 rd quarter of 2013 by 3.2 percent due to increasing of domestic orders. Moreover, electronics also began to expand for 2 consecutive months due to production of new models to market."
Source: Fiscal Policy Office / www.fpo.go.th