InfoQuest (July 7, 2021) - According to Mr. Suphan Mongkolsuthi, Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI)), the Thai Industries Sentiment Index (ISI)dropped for the third consecutive month to 80.7 in June, the lowest level since July 2020, slightly lower than 82.3 in May.
The decline was driven by the third wave of the pandemic. The increasing confirmed cases in factories has led the government to tighten the prevention measures in Bangkok, its surrounding areas and four southern provinces.
Meanwhile, Thailand falls behind in its vaccination, which curbs economic activities. Exports are plagued by weak domestic demand,shortage of semiconductors, few containers and high freight rates.
Foreign orders and sales are on the rise. Economic recovery and waning COVID-19 pandemic in trading partners have boosted demands in foreign markets. The depreciation of the Thai baht is also a positive sign for exporters to outperform rivals and increase income.
The ISI was downgraded from 91.8 to 90.8 for the following three months due to entrepreneurs’ worries of unimproved pandemic and variants of COVID-19. Domestic demand slowdown and cautious spending slashed the revenue of SMEs.
The Chairman put forward the following suggestions to the government:
1. Purchase high-quality COVID-19 vaccine,vaccinate at least 70 percent of the population, and establish herd immunity.
2. Control the factory pandemic to avoid impairing manufacturing and export.
3. Introduce pandemic relief measures.
4. Offer special soft loans to help SMEs burdened with NPLs.
5. Formulate measures to reduce utilities and public utilities by 30 percent to help SMEs.
Source: InfoQuest, by Thanawat Suayam/Kasamaporn Kittisamphan, translated by Xinhua Silk Road
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