BANGKOK: Thailand´s customs-cleared exports declined slightly less than expected in May, commerce ministry data showed on Friday, as the trade-dependent economy continued to face tepid global demand and structural problems at home.
Exports dropped 4.40 percent from a year earlier, compared with the median forecast of a fall of 4.80 percent in a Reuters poll. Shipments to most major markets declined, including falls of 12.7 percent to China, 8.6 percent to Japan and 2.7 to Europe. But exports to the United States rose 3.4 percent from a year earlier. In April, exports slumped 8 percent on-year after two months of rises, which were distorted by gold shipments.
Thai exports, worth about two-thirds of the country´s economic output, have contracted in each of the past three years. On Wednesday, the central bank cut its 2016 forecast for exports to a 2.5 percent fall rather than a 2 percent decline, but maintained its economic growth estimate at 3.1 percent.
