Thai economy projected to grow by 5-6% in 2012

BANGKOK, August 3 (TNA) - A wellknown economist has projected that the Thai economy should grow by 5-6 per cent this year, urging the Thai government to ensure political order and create confidence in flood prevention to protect the national economy. The senior economist, Thanavat Polvichai, Director of the Center for Economic and Business Forecasting of Bangkok-based University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, assessed today that the national economic growth rate would likely range from 5.0 to 5.5 per cent this year due to possible political risks related to attempts by the Thai government to change the 2010 Constitution and pass a reconciliation bill. Thanavat warned, however, that there remain many negative factors for the Thai economy, including impacts from the Bank of Thailand’s adjusted projection of the national economic growth from 6 per cent to 5.7 per cent in 2012, world crude oil prices which are approaching as high as 90 US dollars per barrel, recent flooding in China, Thai rubber prices which are as low as 90 baht per kilogram and people's unchanged purchasing power. Thanavat urged the Thai government to speed up the disbursement of state budgets to fund new mega-infrastructure development projects, stabilize the domestic political situation, ensure flood prevention, freeze energy prices in the third quarter, prepare for coping with possible negative impacts from global economic problems, especially those from the ongoing eurozone debt crisis, and rehabilitate victims of violent attacks in the troubled Thai far South to create positive atmosphere. (TNA)