Is the glass half full or half empty? Two different reports on the Thai economy. The spin zone.
PM: 2015 first quarter economy expands
Friday, 29 May 2015 From Issue Vol. XXIII No. 22 By NNT
The Thai economy expanded in the first quarter of 2015 due an increased confidence from investors and tourists, according to the Prime Minister.
PM Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said in a televised broadcast, citing the National Economic and Social Development BoardтАЩs report, that the Thai economy expanded by 3 percent in the first quarter of 2015 (January-March) due to an increase in private consumption, investment from the government, and expansion in the tourism sector.
He said that this is a positive effect from government spending, and the confidence in the private and public sector from orderliness and security, from the nationтАЩs return to normality.
The employment figure in April 2015 is at 37.5 million people, which is a 0.5 percent increase from the same period of last year..... (read more).....
http://www.pattayamail.com/business/pm- ... ands-47433
ThailandтАЩs GDP Growth Slowed Last Quarter on Exports Decline
by Suttinee Yuvejwattana
9:33 AM WIB May 18, 2015
ThailandтАЩs economy barely grew last quarter as rising government spending failed to counter falling exports and weakening local demand. The outlook for the rest of the year isnтАЩt that much better.
Gross domestic product rose 0.3 percent in the three months through March from the previous quarter, the National Economic and Social Development Board said in Bangkok Monday. The median of 17 estimates in a Bloomberg survey was for a 0.6 percent contraction. GDP grew 3 percent from a year earlier, compared with a prediction of a 3.4 percent gain.
The agency today cut its forecasts for economic expansion and exports growth this year, and said the second quarter should be better than the first. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha has introduced a nano loans program for low-income earners and pledged to increase investment spending to boost consumption and counter weaker overseas sales.....
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... rt-decline