The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) announced on March 20th, 2000 that the Thai economy in the fourth quarter of 1999 expanded by 6.5 percent which was the result of the expansion in manufacturing service trade and transportation sectors. The 1999 GDP increased by 4.2 percent, which resulted from government stimulation in investment, current account that showed continuing surplus.
Mr.Sansern Wongcha-um, Secretary-General of NESDB, disclosed that the Seasonal Adjusted Real GDP has expanded by 1.9 percent when the comparison is made between this quarter and the previous one. However, when compared with the same quarter last year, the GDP has expanded by 6.5 percent. The source of this growth is the expansion in the non-agricultural sector including manufacture and services which aim at meeting the domestic demand and export demand.
The growth of production in the fourth quarter has expanded substantially, particularly in manufacturing sector which has expanded by 15 percent. The major sub-sector with high expansion are the modern and related to exporting industries. The main industry is manufacture of motor vehicles which has continuously expanded at 107.6 percent compared to that same period last year. Furthermore, there were other industries which also increased. Manufacture of office accounting and computing machinery, manufacture of radio, TV and equipment, and manufacture of domestic appliances have expanded 53.8 percent, 29.2 percent and 23.9 percent, respectively. The other expanded sectors and hotels and retail trade, transportation and construction.
However, some sectors experienced contraction, such as agriculture. This sector has declined by 1.7 percent, particularly the fisheries production which has contracted by 14.5 percent due to the monsoon season and cold weather. The increase on oil prices by 24.3 percent is another cause of the decline of the sectoras well. Furthermore, the crop production has also declined by 0.6 prcent. The main crops with reduces output were corn, cassava, and rubber. They have contracted by 12.3 percent, 17.5 percentand 20.7 percent, respectively, due to the changing weather conditions. In addition, the financial intermediation sector has contracted by 19.4 percent due to the profit of financial institutions. The commercial banks have to give loans with cautions because of the high NPL.
The Secretary-General further said that there is acontinuing expansion in the household consumption expenditure of the rate of 8.6 percent in this quarter. The expansion of the expenditure is mainly on food, beverage, apparel, health and automobile. Especially, the expenditure on automobiles has jumped up by 60.9 percent. The Government Consumption Expenditure in this quarter has risen by 9.6 percentas a result of the spending from the loan for reducing the impact of economic crisis on the society.
Gross Fixed Capital Formation (QFCF) in this quarter has increased by 12.1 percent. The investment of the government sector is high at a 13.3 percent increase since the investment in the machinery has expanded by 41.5 percent. In addition, there is and increase in the public construction by 4.5 percent. The investment in construction made by the private sector has continuously contracted due to the existing oversupply in the market.
There is a surplus on the current account by Baht 109,964 million. Surplus on the goods account by Baht 69,424 million and on the servic account by Baht 40,540 million
Development News Bulletin, National Economic and Social Development Board, Volume 15, No. 3 : March 2000--
Mr.Sansern Wongcha-um, Secretary-General of NESDB, disclosed that the Seasonal Adjusted Real GDP has expanded by 1.9 percent when the comparison is made between this quarter and the previous one. However, when compared with the same quarter last year, the GDP has expanded by 6.5 percent. The source of this growth is the expansion in the non-agricultural sector including manufacture and services which aim at meeting the domestic demand and export demand.
The growth of production in the fourth quarter has expanded substantially, particularly in manufacturing sector which has expanded by 15 percent. The major sub-sector with high expansion are the modern and related to exporting industries. The main industry is manufacture of motor vehicles which has continuously expanded at 107.6 percent compared to that same period last year. Furthermore, there were other industries which also increased. Manufacture of office accounting and computing machinery, manufacture of radio, TV and equipment, and manufacture of domestic appliances have expanded 53.8 percent, 29.2 percent and 23.9 percent, respectively. The other expanded sectors and hotels and retail trade, transportation and construction.
However, some sectors experienced contraction, such as agriculture. This sector has declined by 1.7 percent, particularly the fisheries production which has contracted by 14.5 percent due to the monsoon season and cold weather. The increase on oil prices by 24.3 percent is another cause of the decline of the sectoras well. Furthermore, the crop production has also declined by 0.6 prcent. The main crops with reduces output were corn, cassava, and rubber. They have contracted by 12.3 percent, 17.5 percentand 20.7 percent, respectively, due to the changing weather conditions. In addition, the financial intermediation sector has contracted by 19.4 percent due to the profit of financial institutions. The commercial banks have to give loans with cautions because of the high NPL.
The Secretary-General further said that there is acontinuing expansion in the household consumption expenditure of the rate of 8.6 percent in this quarter. The expansion of the expenditure is mainly on food, beverage, apparel, health and automobile. Especially, the expenditure on automobiles has jumped up by 60.9 percent. The Government Consumption Expenditure in this quarter has risen by 9.6 percentas a result of the spending from the loan for reducing the impact of economic crisis on the society.
Gross Fixed Capital Formation (QFCF) in this quarter has increased by 12.1 percent. The investment of the government sector is high at a 13.3 percent increase since the investment in the machinery has expanded by 41.5 percent. In addition, there is and increase in the public construction by 4.5 percent. The investment in construction made by the private sector has continuously contracted due to the existing oversupply in the market.
There is a surplus on the current account by Baht 109,964 million. Surplus on the goods account by Baht 69,424 million and on the servic account by Baht 40,540 million
Development News Bulletin, National Economic and Social Development Board, Volume 15, No. 3 : March 2000--