Thai Q2 GDP grows 0.4% q-o-q, beats forecasts but still tepid

[BANGKOK] Thailand's economy expanded 0.4 per cent in April-June from the previous quarter, slightly more than expected but unlikely to spur optimism that its growth outlook is improving significantly.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter would ease to just 0.2 per cent from 0.3 per cent in the first quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Growth in the second quarter was 2.8 per cent from a year earlier, the national planning agency said on Monday, in line with the 2.8 per cent median forecast in a Reuters poll.

Since the military seized power in Thailand in May 2014, the junta has been unable to get Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy out of a rut. Exports have continued to contract, weighing on the manufacturing sector, and domestic demand has remained subdued.

REUTERS