Thai economy in Q3 contracts 2.8%: NESDB report

BANGKOK, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter this year contracted by 2.8 percent year-on-year, which means the country's economy in the first nine months in 2009 declined 5 percent, said a economic performance report Monday by a government's think tank.

"The seasonal adjusted GDP grew by 1.3 percent, continuing from 2.2 percent growth in the second quarter. It indicated the clearer sign of Thai economic recovery," says the report released by the Office of National Economic and Social Development.

The report, Thai Economic Performance in Q3 and Outlook for 2010, says Thai economy in the third quarter showed signs of improvement from previous quarters, when the GDP registered a contraction of 4.9 percent in the second quarter and of 7.1 in the first one.

It contributes the improvement of economic situation in the kingdom to the overall global economic recovery as well as domestic economic stimulus measures, which it said have played a vital role in supporting the recovery of private consumption and investment.

It also forecasts the last quarter of 2009 see a positive GDP growth, the first increase in 2009, with an acceleration compared to the same period of last year.

The report expects that for the whole year of 2009, Thai economy is expected to contract by 3.0 percent, with -0.9 percent of headline inflation, and for 2010, to expand in the range of 3.0-4.0 percent subject to the various conditions.

Unemployment rate in the third quarter averaged at 1.2 percent, lower than 2.1 and 1.8 percent in the first and second quarters respectively, it says. Employment in the third quarter was at 38.30 million persons, up by 1.41 percent compared to the same period last year.

Due to the recovery of Thailand's major trading partner countries such as the U.S., Australia, ASEAN countries and China, the export value in USD term fell by 17.5 percent in this quarter, improved as compared to a decrease of 19.9 and 26.1 percent in the first and the second quarters respectively, the report says.