SME confidence down slightly in August
The SME confidence index in August dropped slightly to 42.7 from 43.3 in July, according to the Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion (Osmep), which expects the index to improve to 52.8 in the next three months.
Chawan Svasti-xuto, deputy director-general of Osmep, expects the indices for the wholesale and retail sectors will fall to 43.8 and 42.0 from 46.4 and 44.6, while the index for the service sector will rise to 43.2 from 40.6. Meanwhile, the confidence indices for the Thai economy and commerce are likely to drop to 19.5 and 35.7 from 36.2 and 36.6 respectively.
In the August analysis, the wholesale sector for construction materials had the steepest drop, from 46.0 to 41.5, which is typical of the wet season. Overall investment also slowed down.
The SME confidence index (inclusive of trade and service sectors) for the next three months is projected to improve to 52.8 from 46.2, for all types of business sectors.
The indices for the wholesale, retail and service sectors should improve to 51.2 52.0 and 54.3 from 48.4, 44.8 and 46.9, similarly to the confidence index figures for the Thai economy and commerce, which should rise to 52.2 and 59.2 from 25.0 and 40.6.
The survey showed that business operators are more optimistic about the next three months, in view of supporting factors, such as tourism (more foreign tourists expected). In August, 2.47 million visitors arrived, up 28.14 per cent over the same month a year ago.
The retail price of petrol has also declined, while the baht at the end of August weakened to 31.60 per US dollar, while Thai exports improved by 3.92 per cent (to Bt20.47 billion in value) over the same month last year.
Moreover, business operators expect capital related to the state’s various large infrastructure projects to enter the Thai economic system.
Traditional Thai festivals, such as the Vegetarian Festival and Loy Kratong, should also boost domestic consumption considerably in the current quarter.
