"The expansion of Thailand economy in May 2019 was supported by the domestic demand, indicated by real VAT collection that grew significantly at 5.0 percent per year. Meanwhile, private investment and export showed slowing signs. Regarding the supply side, the agricultural production recovered, while the manufacturing production and tourism faced decline. Economic stability remained favorable both internally and externally. "
Mr. Pornchai Thiraveja, Financial Policy Advisor as Spokesperson of Fiscal Policy Office, and Mr. Pisit Puapan, Executive Director of Macroeconomic Policy Bureau, as the Deputy Spokesperson of Fiscal Policy Office, revealed the economic report of May 2019 which states that: "The expansion of Thailand economy in May 2019 was supported by the domestic demand, indicated by real VAT collection that grew significantly at 5.0 percent per year. Meanwhile, private investment and export showed slowing signs. Regarding the supply side, the agricultural production recovered, while the manufacturing production and tourism faced decline. Economic stability remained favorable both internally and externally."
Economic indicators on private consumption expenditures of May 2019 expanded overall, indicated by the VAT collection which grew by 5.0 percent per year, while the consumption is indicated by the number of passenger car sales, which grew slightly at 1.3 percent per year. However, the number of registration of new motorcycles shrank at -3.8 percent per year, and the import volume of consumption goods at -2.2 percent per year. Additionally, the consumer confidence index dropped to 64.8.
Economic indicators on private investment for May 2019 faced decline when compared with that of the same period in last year (y-o-y). However, it is revealed that many of the indicators grew when compared to last month (m-o-m). Private investment in the machinery and equipment sector is indicated by the number of commercial car sales, which grew at 5.2 percent per year, due to the growth in sales of 1-ton pickup trucks. Meanwhile, the import volume of capital goods declined at -6.9 percent per year. Private investment in construction sector is indicated by the cement sales, which declined at -3.1 percent per year, and the real estate tax collection at -15.3 percent per year. However, the construction material price index grew slightly at 0.3 percent per year.
Regarding the fiscal sector, the total government expenditure for May 2019 was at 171.8 billion baht, categorized as the following: annual expenditure at 161.3 billion baht, current expenditure at 128.4 billion baht, capital expenditure at 33.0 billion baht, and carry-over budget at 10.4 billion baht.
External demand in May 2019 continued to shrink. The total export in form of US dollar declined at -5.8 percent per year, export to China at -7.2 percent per year, and export to ASEAN countries at -10.2 percent per year. However, the export to USA grew at 7.8 percent per year. The total import shrank at -0.6 percent per year, and the international trade of Thailand recovered with the surplus of 0.2 billion US dollar.
Supply-side indicators in May 2019 revealed that the agricultural production recovered, while the manufacturing production and tourism faced decline.The agricultural production index grew at 0.6 percent per year, while the manufacturing production index shrank at -4.0 percent per year. Thai industries Sentiment index rised slightly from last month, at 95.9. Regarding the tourism sector, the number of inbound foreign tourists in May 2019 was 2.73 million, a decline at -1.0 percent per year, particularly due to the decline in Chinese tourists. This resulted in the total revenue from foreign tourists at 134,560 million baht, a decline at -1.0 percent per year. However, the tourism sector was supported by the number of tourists from some countries, such as Malaysia, India, Japan, which grows steadily.
Internal economic stability in May 2019 remained robust and favourable , indicated by the headline inflation at 1.1 percent per year, and the core inflation at 0.5 percent per year. The unemployment rate was at 1.1 percent per year. The public debt per GDP at the end of April 2019 was at 42.0 per GDP. The external economy is at stable level, and capable of tackling the risk factors from global economy. This is indicated by the Internation Reserves Position at the end of May 2019, which is at 210.0 bullion USD.
Source: Ministry of Finance