Earlier, a Reuters poll of economists forecast a 0.35% year-on-year increase in export. The higher-than-expected rise followed a 10.9% decline in March.
In April, exports of industrial goods increased 9.2% year-on-year while rice export volumes jumped 64.2%, resulting in a 1.4% annual increase in export turnover in the first four months of this year
April imports rose 8.3% from a year earlier, against a rise of 5.05% forecast in the poll, leading to a trade deficit of 1.64 billion USD for the month, compared with a forecast deficit of 1.7 billion USD.
The ministry has maintained its export growth target of 1-2% this year, after a fall of 1% in 2023.
Thailand, the world’s second-largest rice exporter after India, expects export of the grain would exceed a target of 7.5 million this year./.
VNA
