Thailand’s exports are expected to see some improvement in the year as the Thai shippers’ council forecast between a 0.5% drop and a 1.0% rise in 2023 as global demand remains soft, despite weak Thai baht.
Exports are one of the key economic drivers for Thailand.
The Thai National Shippers’ Council wrote in a statement that it expected to see a rise of 0.6% in the third quarter from a year earlier.
Thailand’s customs-based exports in May contracted 4.6% from a year earlier, according to the report by the commerce ministry on Tuesday.
Still, the drop was better than an 8% YoY decrease forecast for May in a Reuters poll, and came after a 7.6% drop in April.
Meanwhile, May customs-cleared imports contracted 3.4% YoY, compared to a decrease of 9.9% expected in a Reuters poll.
Trade balance in May recorded a deficit of 1.8 billion dollars, compared to a deficit of 0.3 billion dollar from Reuters poll.
