The Office of Industrial Economics (OIE) disclosed that Thailand’s Manufacturing Production Index (MPI) has fallen for the 17th consecutive month. February saw a year-on-year decrease of 2.8%, bringing the index to 99.2 points. This slump is largely attributed to a drop in manufacturing within key sectors, including the automotive industry.
The OIE has also highlighted ongoing issues with high household debt and diminished purchasing power in Thailand, said Warawan Chitaroon, OIE Director-General.
“Domestic sales of pickups have slowed down, impacting the MPI considerably. This is largely due to banks enforcing stricter lending criteria for car loans.”
Continuing fears about non-performing loans have led banks to exercise greater caution when lending to prospective car buyers.
Warawan also noted that car production within the country had…
