BANGKOK, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's business sentiment rose marginally in February, mainly thanks to improvements in the manufacturing sector, the central bank said on Monday.

According to the Bank of Thailand, the Southeast Asian country's business sentiment index (BSI) was recorded at 48.9 last month, slightly up from 48.5 in January, as most components of the index increased.

The manufacturing index saw a surge across nearly all businesses, led by the steel industries, due to the ongoing disbursement of government projects, the central bank said in a statement.

However, the overall confidence of manufacturing businesses lingered below the 50-point threshold, indicating a decline from the previous month, dragged down by sluggish sentiment in the automotive sector.

Meanwhile, the non-manufacturing index fell moderately, despite a sharp drop in service volume and performance sentiment among respondents in the hotel and restaurant sector as a result of fewer tourists following the Chinese New Year and the start of the low tourism season.

The three-month expected BSI climbed to 52.5 in February from 51.3 a month earlier as the manufacturing index rose from almost every business and the non-manufacturing index jumped, largely fueled by the retail trade sector.

The reading was based on a survey of 682 respondents from large and medium-sized firms. Enditem

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