The Bank of Thailand reported on Tuesday that its economy during February this year showed slow signs of a recovery, but there were positive factors from the government’s faster budget spending, resulting in better investor confidence.
Senior Director Rung Malikamas said in a statement that the private sector’s spending contracted by 2.6 percent during February 2015 compared to the same month in 2014. The household and business sectors were careful with their spending and farmers’ purchasing power was low.
Household debt was high, the official added and noted that household debt as a ratio to GDP increased from 84.7 percent in the third quarter to 85.9 percentin the fourth quarter of 2014.
As for the government’s budget spending in February, it was similar to January. The total budget disbursed in February was higher than the average for the past two years. This helped increase investor confidence, as seen from a 0.5 percent growth in private investment.
Exports would likely expand in line with a better global economic recovery. The tourism sector continued to grow well and was an important economic drive for Thailand, she added.
Andrew Batt, International Group Editor of PropertyGuru Group, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email andrew@propertyguru.com.sg
