Thailand’s finance ministry on Tuesday revised down its gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for this year, saying it now expects the economy to expand by 3.6% versus 3.8%.
The authorities also lowered its forecast for the export sector, which is now likely to contract by 0.5% in 2023 instead of growing modestly as predicted for this year.
The Bank of Thailand (BOT), meanwhile, maintained its growth projection for the country’s economy at 3.6%, supported by tourism and domestic consumption, despite turbulence in the first half of the year and global financial uncertainty.
BOT governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said that fiscal and monetary policies should be normalized for stability as inflation risks persisted, as the country’s economic recovery remained intact.
He told reporters that the central bank’s growth forecast for this year is quite near to the country’s long-term growth potential of around 4%.
According to the BOT’s forecast for the first half of 2023, the economy is expected to increase 2.9% from the same period a year earlier, with exports seen down 7.1% from the previous year.
In the second half of the year, exports are expected to rise by 4.2%, and therefore growth is expected to pick up to 4.3% annually, as predicted by Sethaput.
