Thailand's GDP projected growth revised to 4.2-5.2% in 2013

BANGKOK, May 20 (TNA) - The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has revised its projection on Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for this year downward to 4.2-5.2 per cent, from 4.5-5.5 per cent. NESDB Secretary-General Arkhom Termpittayapaisith told journalists on Monday that his office's downward revision of Thailand's projected economic growth in 2013 was based the fact that the national economy expanded by 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year, compared with 19.1 per cent in the last quarter of last year. Earlier, Arkhom said, the NESDB anticipated that Thailand's GDP should grow by 6-7 per cent in the first quarter of this year, but domestic consumption and household expenses increased actually by only 4.2 per cent in the January-March 2013 period, from 12.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, and domestic investment went up by 6 per cent, compared with 22.9 per cent in the last quarter of 2012. Arkhom acknowledged that Thailand's export value in US dollars also grew by only 4.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year, while the government earlier expected that the country's export value should increase by 9 per cent and his office predicted it should expand by 11 per cent year-on-year throughout this year. In baht, the NESDB chief noted, Thailand's export value expanded by only 0.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year due to the continual baht appreciation since early 2013, with the country's export value dropping by 560 billion baht, as the exchange rates have changed from 31 baht to 29 baht a US dollar. The NESDB chief suggested that more important problems are unusual capital inflows and speculative attacks, pointing that capital inflows had amounted to 4.5 billion US dollars quarterly on average over the past three quarters, and that risk factors of the Thai economy appear to be the Thai government's declining economic stimulus measures and world economic growth rates, the latter of which have dropped to 3.6 per cent, as well as the continual baht appreciation, which has already reduced the national export growth. (TNA)