Thailand’s finance ministry reiterated its 3.8% growth forecast for 2023, backed by a recovery in tourism and domestic consumption, although an official warned that exports would decline this year.
On Friday, Pornchai Thiraveja, head of the ministry’s fiscal policy office, lowered the growth prediction for Thailand’s economy to 3.0% from 3.4% due to slower-than-anticipated growth in exports, public investment, and private consumption.
The official gross domestic production figures for 2022 are scheduled to be revealed next month. In 2021, Thailand’s economy grew by 1.5%, among the lowest rates in the region.
Thailand’s economic recovery has lagged behind that of other South-east Asian countries, with the key tourism sector only just beginning to recover last year, with 11.15 million international visitors.
With China’s reopening, Pornchai estimates that Thailand will see 27.5 million foreign tourists this year, up from 21.5 projected earlier.
