Thai economy keeps growing in 2018

BANGKOK, January 3 (TNA) - The Thai economy is likely to further grow by 4.0-4.5 per cent year-on-year in 2018, on top of about 3.8 per cent year-on-year in 2017, thanks to the government's mega-investment projects, as well as the country's expanding exports and tourism. Montree Socatiyanurak, Director of the Master of Public and Private Management Program, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), made the assessment on January 2, stressing that the positive prospect of the Thai economy, expected to even continue over the next few years, is cushioned by improving economic signs in major trading partners, including the United States, Europe, Japan, China and other member countries in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). Montree pointed out that the reduced corporate tax in the United States as of the beginning of this year from 35 per cent to 21 per cent, coupled with the anticipated changing key US interest rate, should stimulate the US economy with positive impacts on the Thai economy consequently, while the generally recovering European economy with more consumer confidence and an expected progress in talks on the European Union (EU)-Thailand free trade area (FTA) should also be beneficial to the Thai economy. Besides, the Thai economy should benefit from continual economic stimulus measures in Japan, especially the Quantitative Easing (QE) measure under which the central bank buys predetermined amounts of government bonds or other financial assets to generate the domestic economic growth, as well as measures on stimulating the domestic consumption and a relaxing control on capital outflows in China, where the immense domestic economy should keep expanding by as high as 6.5-7.0 per cent year-on-year over the next several years, and the improving economies of other AEC member countries, where about 25.7 per cent of overall Thai exports are destined annually, especially Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam where their economic growth should stand at least 6 per cent year-on-year in the coming years. Montree said that psychological impacts from the expectedly new general election late this year, mega-investment plans in the Thai public sector, aimed to drive ahead the national economy and to raise the Thai economy to a high income status in the foreseeable future, as well as the expanding Thai exports by at least 6 per cent year-on-year and the promising domestic tourism should also be positive factors to propel the national economic growth this year. The senior academic cautioned, however, that there are remaining risk factors against Thailand's economic expansion this year, namely a slow and uneven growth in the grassroots sector due to high household debt levels and in local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). (TNA)