Oil price hikes and higher wages cloud industrial confidence expectations
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Thailand's industrial confidence expectation in the next three months is lower than in January, as manufacturers expect a drop in overall orders, sales, output and financial results.
They foresee a gloomy outlook in light of higher oil prices and higher wage costs, said Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) Chairman Payungsak Chartsutipol.
The 3-month expectation index declined from 107.7 points in January to 106.3 points in February.
“At present, they are the most worried about oil prices, aside from concerns in global economic conditions, the exchange rates, domestic political stability and interest rates,” he said at a press conference on Thursday.
He said that the manufacturers are asking for the government’s help for small and medium-sized enterprises, which will be hit by the minimum wage of Bt300. The government is also urged to ease labour shortage and come up with measures to reduce the production cost and boost the domestic economy.
With the manufacturing sector still recovering from last year’s floods, the industrial confidence index in February increased from 99.6 points to 100.9. This was the third monthly increase in a row, and the first time in six months that the index is above 100.
