Thai economy faces uphill battle

Taking a hit: Labourers work at a garment factory in Bangkok. Consumer confidence is at a 22-year low due to the fresh wave of infections. ─ Reuters

BANGKOK: Thailand’s economic contraction continued into the start of year, setting the stage for a further slump as the country now faces its worst wave of Covid-19 cases.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter shrank 2.6% from a year earlier, the National Economic and Social Development Council said yesterday, compared with a median estimate of -3.3% in a Bloomberg survey and improving from the prior quarter’s 4.2% contraction. GDP rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% quarter-on-quarter, beating the survey’s -1.0%.