April 1, 2009
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thailand recorded a current account surplus in February of 4.42 billion dollars, nearly six times the figure posted a year ago, the Bank of Thailand said Tuesday.
But the central bank said the steep rise on the balance sheet was due to a huge contraction in imports to the kingdom due to the ongoing global economic crisis, which made up for falls in exports.
Thailand's current account surplus was up from a 767.67-million-dollar figure for the same period last year.
Exports in February were worth 11.82 billion dollars, down 11.1 percent year-on-year, while imports were valued at 7.63 billion dollars, down 43.5 percent from the same period last year.
"The value of exports in February contracted, especially in high technology goods, although sugar and food exports expanded," said bank director Amara Sriphayak.
"But imports also contracted a great deal due to a slowdown across all goods... due to the economic crisis."
Thai shipments to the United States fell 24.84 percent year-on-year to 1.18 billion dollars, while shipments to Japan dropped 28.85 percent to 1.11 billion dollars.
EU-bound exports also fell 29.10 percent to 1.34 billion dollars, the Bank of Thailand said.
