Thai Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith sees a weaker baht as beneficial to the country’s post-pandemic tourism revival, which is the key to accelerating economic growth.
At the conference of finance ministers of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in Bangkok, he said, “Thailand is value for money” and the baht remained competitive in the region and that the central bank should not worry about capital outflows.
This showed that the benefits of a weaker currency outweigh the downsides for the economy that is heavily reliant on tourism, and that the Bank of Thailand’s approach to tightening monetary policy was appropriate when central banks led by the Federal Reserve are using large hikes to combat inflation.
Due to the return of foreign visitors, Arkhom forecasts the Thai economy to rise 3.7% next year, up from 3%-3.5% growth rate projection this year.
Thailand saw 5.8 million tourist arrivals from January to September 25, with an average of 46,000 visitors per day, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand data.
TAT remained optimistic of achieving its target of 10 million tourists this year and estimates that in the last quarter of the year, Thailand will welcome at least 1.5 foreigners a month.
Thailand will earn approximately 1.5 trillion baht in 2022, accounting for 50% of pre-Covid revenue.
