TISI increases first time in four month

BANGKOK, June 14 (TNA) - The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) says that the Thai industries sentiment index (TISI) rose for the first time in four months in May 2013, thanks to, overall, increased purchase orders, sales, production and operational results. FTI Chairman Payungsak Chartsutipol told journalists on Friday that the TISI stood at 94.3 points in May 2013, up from 92.9 a month earlier, representing its increase for the first time in four months. Besides, Payungsak pointed out that the weakening Thai baht has relieved business operators’ concerns, after the Bank of Thailand (BOT) recently cut its policy interest rate, or the repurchase rate, by 0.25 per cent, and there were also more working days in May than in April. Surapong Paisitpatanapong, FTI Deputy Chairman and Spokesman of the FTI’s Automotive Industry Club, acknowledged, meanwhile, that 231,070 automobiles were produced in May 2013, up by 11 per cent year-on-year and by 35.5 per cent from a month earlier. According to the spokesman, domestic automobile sales, however, dropped by 3.7 per cent year-on-year in May 2013, the first year-on-year drop in auto sales on the domestic market. (TNA)