Credit-card spending drops 9 per cent in April
Domestic spending on credit cards in April was down 9.3 per cent from the previous month, but overseas spending rose 22.4 per cent month on month.
According to Bank of Thailand data, total spending on credit cards during the month, during which the Songkran Festival was held, was Bt57.3 billion, Bt40 billion of which was domestic spending, Bt14.6 billion cash withdrawals and the remainder overseas spending.Domestic spending in April fell 11.6 per cent month on month, and cash withdrawals dropped 7.3 per cent from the previous month. The downturn in domestic spending highlighted a nationwide slowdown in consumption as political and economic uncertainties dented consumer confidence. The fall-off in domestic spending was seen across the board in terms of card-issuers. However, cards issued by commercial banks suffered most, down almost 13 per cent from March. Still, total domestic spending and cash withdrawals rose 21.5 per cent year on year. Outstanding loans also jumped sharply by 20.6 per cent from the same period last year. The Private Consumption Index in April was up slightly at 0.8 per cent, far below the 3.7 per cent recorded in March. For the first quarter, the index rose 1.2 per cent. A survey by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce last week showed the steepest fall in consumer confidence in May to the lowest level in 49 months. In April outstanding loans rose by 2.6 per cent from March to Bt147.3 billion while the number of credit-card holders increased a mere 0.83 per cent to 10.24 million. However, overseas card spending in April bucked the trend, jumping 22.4 per cent from the previous month to Bt2.7billion. Anoma Srisukkasem, The Nation
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