Off the wire
• Earthquake of 6.4 magnitude hits northeast off Bathsheba, Barbados -- USGS  • (Recast) Greek banks may reopen Monday after ECB decision to raise ELA: sources  • Italian cyclist Gavazzi wins 11th stage of Tour of Qinghai Lake  • Budapest-Belgrade rail upgrade could be started in 2015  • British pounds strongest against euro since 2007  • U.S. stocks trade higher after Greek vote  • U.S. initial jobless claims fall to 281,000  • Chinese Premier meets World Bank president  • Xinhua world news summary at 1530 GMT, July 16  • About 30,000 children trafficked in or through S. Africa annually: minister  
You are here: 　 Home

Thailand's agricultural economy shrinks by 4.2 pct in H1

Xinhua, July 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Thailand's agricultural economy shrank by 4.2 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2015, the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) said Thursday.

The purchasing power of Thailand's trade partners in Middle East and Africa has declined along with falling oil prices, thus incurring a 9.4-percent reduction in Thailand's revenue from agriculture-based exports, OAE secretary-general Lersak Rewtrakulpaiboon was quoted by the National News Bureau of Thailand as saying.

The revenue declined even further due to the prolonged drought, which has affected dozens of Thai provinces since late 2014, according to Lersak.

In the second half of this year, the agricultural sector is expected to see a further contraction of 3.3-4.3 percent, he said, adding the livestock, fisheries and forestry sectors are still performing well.

The OAE will continue to closely monitor the impact of the drought on the sector as well as that of China's economic performance on the Thai economy, Lersak said. Endi