The manufacturing production index (MPI) for January dropped by a slightly less-than-expected 4.35% from a year earlier as a global slowdown hurt exports, the Industry Ministry said on Tuesday.
The figure compared with a forecast fall of 5% in factory output for January in a Reuters poll, and came after December's revised 8.45% year-on-year decline. The MPI is likely to drop further in February due to slowing global demand and a high comparative base last year, ministry official Worawan Chitaroon told a news conference.
