Collection of value-added tax (VAT) indicated a slow-down of household consumption last month. Revenues from VAT receipts expanded 4.8 per cent, down from last November's 8.3-per-cent increase, she said.

The value of imported consumer goods expanded 7.5 per cent, slightly up from the previous month's 6.5-per-cent rise.

Taxes collected from property and land transactions contracted 9.9 per cent, indicating an investment slump in the real-estate sector. Imports of capital goods also dropped 9.2 per cent, and the value of projects requesting investment privileges suggested a decline.

This indicated an overall contraction in private investment.

Pannee said exports rose by 16.5 per cent last month to US$10.96 billion (Bt393 billion), while imports expanded at the lower pace of 5.1 per cent to $10.05 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $911.5 million - the fifth consecutive month for a surplus.

The number of tourist arrivals surged to 1.4 million in December, from an average of 1 million a month. Pannee said Royal Flora Ratchaphruek in Chiang Mai partly contributed to that rise.

Political uncertainty did not have an adverse effect on tourism, she added.

Thailand had a current-account surplus of $2.1 billion in the first eleven months of last year, comprising a trade surplus of $1.5 billion, along with a services-account surplus of $513 million.

Official reserves rose to $66.99 billion at the end of last year up, from $52.1 billion the year before.

The exchange rate appreciated last month, with an average baht-to-dollar rate of 35.83, compared with 36.5 in November.

The Fiscal Policy Office estimates 3-per-cent inflation this month, down from 3.5 per cent in December, due largely to lower fuel prices.

Wichit Chaitrong

The Nation