Business confidence has improved slightly to its highest point in the last year, boosted by the huge public sector investment in megaprojects, according to a Krungthai Bank (KTB) second quarter survey. KTB senior executive vice present Poonpat Sripleng said on Wednesday the bank surveyed about 2,600 businesspeople for their opinions in compiling the Krungthai Business Index. The economic confidence index stood at 50.43 points, the highest in four quarters, while the confidence index for the next three months was at 50.95, up from 50.18. However, there was still business concern about shrinking exports, slowly manufacturing recovery, political uncertainty, global economic problems and the British exit from the European Union, Mr Poonpat said. He attributed the improvement to the end of the long drought, rising prices for some farm products, tourism growth despite it being the low season, the government's announced investment of 5.5 trillion baht over five years, tax and financial measures to help businesses, and lower financial and fuel costs.

Source: Bangkok Post July 27, 2016 06:11 UTC