The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) says Thai Industries sentiment index (TISI) rose again from 82.8 point in September to 84.7 points in October.
FTI says the October figure marks the second consecutive months increase and the highest level in five months.
However, auto sales decreased by 4.2% in October from a year earlier due to the slowdown in the Thai economy and stricter lending for auto purchases.
FTI says a total of 67,908 vehicles were sold last month. It says for the first 10 month of this year, auto sales totaled 621,740, dropping 13.6% from a year earlier.
Auto exports in October amounted to 111,229, up by 9% year on year.
Thai exports drop 8 percent in October
Thai exports for the month of October dropped 8.11 percent to US$18.5 billion compared to the same period last year, said Commerce Minister Apiradee Tantraporn.
Meanwhile, imports during the same period dropped 18.21 percent to US$16.4 billion resulting to Thailand’s trade surplus of US$2.1 billion.
Thai Economic growth to stand at 2.9% in 2015
Economic growth this year is expected to stand at 2.9% – the highest growth in three years, according to the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB).
The forecast was based on the growth in the third quarter. NESDB deputy secretary-general Porametee Vimolsiri stated that the economic growth in the third quarter of this year rose from 2.8% the previous quarter to 2.9%.
