Thailand’s joint three business group revised up its annual headline inflation forecast to 1.5-2.5 percent from 1.2-2.0 percent, and warned that it might reach 3.0 percent in the first half of 2022, meaning that the economy will expand less than expected.
The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking on Wednesday said that it has maintained Thai economic growth projection in 2022 at 3.0-4.5 percent and exports at 3.0-5.0 percent as Thailand’s economy still has potential to expand as long as the country could still effectively control the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant without imposing new lockdowns.
However, higher inflation is a concern since it could delay economic recovery while also hurting the cost of living and public purchasing power. Therefore, the leading joint business group has urged the government to address this issue as soon as possible in order to avoid further acceleration of inflation.
