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Thailand's exportsdropped 11.3 percent from a year earlier to $11.7 billion, Permanent Secretary of Commerce Ministry Siripol Yodmuangcharoen said Wednesday. |
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Thailand's exports slid for a fourth straight month in February as demand for the country's cars, electronics and other goods dwindled.
Exports dropped 11.3 percent from a year earlier to $11.7 billion, Permanent Secretary of Commerce Ministry Siripol Yodmuangcharoen said Wednesday.
Thailand's economy, the second-largest in Southeast Asia after Indonesia, is extremely dependent on exports, which account for nearly 70 percent of gross domestic product. Exports fell 26.5 percent decline in January, 14.6 percent in December and 20.5 percent in November.
For the country's three leading industries-- electronics, electrical appliances and automotive-- exports fell 30.1 percent, 33.3 percent and 33.2 percent respectively, he said.
Imports, meanwhile, tumbled 40.3 percent, the biggest drop in 11 years. The trade surplus in the month widened to $3.58 billion from $1.38 billion a month earlier.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said earlier this month that the economy's performance in the first quarter would be equal or worse than the fourth quarter of last year, when it contracted 4.3 percent.
Abhisit said on Tuesday the government planned to spend 1.4 trillion baht over the next three years on long-term infrastructure projects to help boost the economy.
(AP)
