Thai government urged to boost consumption of middle-classed people

BANGKOK, April 12 (TNA) - A senior banking executive has proposed that the Thai government boost purchasing power and the consumption of people in the middle and the upper classes to stimulate the national economic growth. Amornthep Chawalla, Senior Director for Research of CIMB Thai Bank, aired the proposal on April 11, pointing out that impacts from ongoing drought has dampened purchasing power and the consumption of the grass-roots. Amornthep said measures to boost the purchasing power and the consumption of the middle-income to the high-income earners should, thus, help stimulate the national economic growth. The CIMB Thai Bank executive predicted, meanwhile, that Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) should expand by 2.7 per cent on average this year and 2.8 per cent on average next year, as a slow recovery of the world economy and low prices of commodities on the global market would affect the country's export sector. The CIMB Thai Bank executive also foresaw that the Thai currency could weaken to around 36.70 baht a US dollar in the second quarter of this year, after strengthening by 2.2 per cent against the greenback in the first quarter. (TNA)