The Bank of Thailand plans to readjust economic predictions tomorrow after political turmoil significantly lowered estimates for tourism, consumption and confidence in April.
The Bank of Thailand reported economic slowdown in April as production and consumption contracted due to shortened number of working days.
Due to the political turmoil, Thailand saw a drop in tourist arrivals by 18 percent from March while occupancy rates at hotels dropped from 57 percent in March to 46.6 percent in April.
The Domestic Economy Department senior director Suchart Sakkankosone said political uncertainty became a risk factor and affected the confidence of business operators.
The business sentiment index decreased from 55.7 in March to 46 in April, a record drop since the BOT began tracking the index in 1999.
He revealed that business operators said the impact of political uncertainty was greater than they had predicted.
Assessing the damage done to the economy by political turmoil is difficult, as exports are still growing substantially.
Bank of Thailand will reconsider expectations for the 2010 Thai economy tomorrow.
via Thai-ASEAN News Network.
