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Economists have slated the government for its economic performance over the past nine months, while the prime minister is revelling in new highs of popularity, two separate polls have revealed.

The first, conducted by Bangkok University, polled 63 economists from 26 organisations between April 20-25. They gave the government a lowly 3.83 out of a possible 10 for its overall economic performance. The lowest score, 3.03, came for energy price management.

For handling the rising price of goods the government fared little better, achieving a meagre 3.17.

The highest evaluation score of 5 was for the government's management of the country's gross domestic product, a key economic growth indicator.

Regarding its ability to lead the country's economic recovery after last year's floods, the government received a paltry 4.53 from the economists.

As for its performance in managing the public debt, the government was given 3.75.

It was given even less in the area of ensuring fairness in society and reducing economic disparity with the economists giving the government a dire 3.47 rating.

When asked to name the government's most successful achievement over the past year, most economists (54.9%) pointed to the war on drugs.

The second and third most successful in their view were the first-time car buyer tax rebate and the 30-baht health care scheme.

On the other hand, the slashing of contributions to the State Oil Fund, the rice mortgage plan, and the tablet computer project for Prathom 1 students were considered the worst handled schemes in the eyes of the economists.

However, it has not been all bad news, especially for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whose ratings have continued to improve in another poll.

A Suan Dusit Poll revealed in its Political Index survey that the prime minister received 6.04 out of a possible 10 for her performance in April. This was an improvement on 5.90 in March and February, and January's 5.48.

The April 25-30 survey polled 7,213 people nationwide.

Out of the Political Index's 25 categories, only seven received scores below 5. The poor marks went to national security, unemployment, organised crime, poverty, rising price of goods, performances by politicians, and graft.

The 18 areas which scored higher than 5 included the government's overall performance (5.68), education (5.52), drug suppression (5.37), better wages (5.12), people's standard of living (5.05), and national unity (5.04).