The World Bank said on Monday that reviving Thailand's flood stricken economy will cost about 756 billion baht, as the Office of Industrial Economics reported that the manufacturing production index last month plummeted 35.8 per cent.

Of the total, 247 billion baht would be for a short term, or less than six months, 386 billion baht for six months to two years and 123 billion baht for more than two years, World Bank economist Kiripa Paopijit said on Monday.

"I believe it won't be a problem for the Thai government to borrow this amount of money as it is still within the ceiling set by the law and it's up to the government to decide if it wants to obtain domestic or overseas loans," Ms Kiripa said.

The World Bank estimated the cost of damage at more than 1.3 trillion baht.

Of that, 640 billion baht was damage to property and 716 billion baht for the loss of business opportunities.

She said the industrial sector suffered the most from the flood disaster, approximately 930 billion baht, while the tourism sector lost about 94 billion baht in revenue.

However, she said, foreign investors would not likely relocate their proudction plants to other countries yet.

The great flood would likely downgrade the country's gross domestic product growth for this year to 2.4 per cent, from the initial forecast at 3.6 per cent, she said.

However, rehabilitation schemes would spur next year's economic growth to 4.0 per cent, from the previous forecast of 3.7 per cent.

The World Bank will announce its economic reassessment by the end of this year, Ms Kiripa said.

The Office of Industrial Economics reported that the manufacturing production index for last month stood at 122.75 points, down 35.8 per cent year-on-year, due to the great flood.

Office deputy director-general Apiwat Ussamaporn said the utilisation rate stood at 46.4 per cent.

Mr Apiwat said the industrial sectors that recorded a negative growth were automotive, hard disk drive, electronics, airconditioning and textiles.

This sector's production and distribution went down heavily last month, he added.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/transport/268275/word-bank-b756b-for-reviving-economy