BANGKOK, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's industrial output fell for the seventh consecutive month in April due to higher production costs and slowing exports, data showed on Wednesday.
The country's manufacturing production index (MPI) dropped 8.14 percent in April from a year earlier and plunged 20.79 percent month-on-month, according to the Ministry of Industry.
For the first four months of the year, the index declined 4.69 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said in a statement.
The continued contraction was attributed to sluggish exports and lower competitiveness for Thai industries due to higher electricity prices and interest rates, the industry ministry's Office of Industrial Economics Director-General Worawan Chitaroon told a news conference.
However, increasing domestic demand, driven by a strong recovery in the tourism sector, and higher investment were supportive factors, Worawan said.
The ministry expects industrial output growth to range between zero and 1 percent this year. ■