Thai August factory output rises 4.44% y/y, beats forecast

BANGKOK, Sept 30 : Thailand's manufacturing production index rose 4.44 per cent in August from a year earlier, the industry ministry said on Wednesday, stronger than analysts' forecasts.

• The August reading compared with a forecast increase of 1.0 per cent in a Reuters poll.

• The ministry has revised its MPI methodology, adding new electronics products and changing the weightings to support the country's new economic structure, Supakit Boonsiri, head of the ministry's industrial economics office, told a briefing.

• The August MPI was boosted by higher electronic output, government stimulus measures, and a weaker baht, he said.