Thailand’s GDP on the rise

BANGKOK, October 29 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Finance, has projected that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) should grow by 3.8 per cent on average next year, boosted by the government-supported new mega-investment projects. Kulaya Tantitemit, Executive Director of the ministry's Macroeconomic Policy Bureau, told journalists of the updated projection on Thursday, saying there are positive signs that the Thai economy should sustain the 3.8 per cent growth in 2016, cushioned by the government's mega-investment in transport and other projects, which would inject a massive state budget of about 3.7 trillion baht into the national economy and would build up confidence in the Thai economy among international investors. Kulaya foresaw that international trade should also be growing in line with the recovering global economy in 2016, which should boost Thai exports to then grow by 3.2 per cent, while inflation is expected at 1.8 per cent. Besides, the Thai baht is expected to further depreciate to 36.5 baht a US dollar in 2016, from around 34.2 baht a US dollar late this year, which should benefit Thai exports, while the number of international visitors to Thailand is projected to rise to 34.2 million next year, from 30.15 million this year, most of whom are Chinese and Malaysian visitors. However, Kulaya assessed, farming households could be more careful in their spending due to a drop in their income caused by impacts from drought earlier this year and a global economic slowdown, which could affect the overall private consumption in the country next year. For this year, the senior official revealed that her ministry has adjusted Thailand's GDP growth to 2.8 per cent on average, from an earlier projection of 3 per cent, but the forecast figure is much higher from the country's economic growth by only 0.9 per cent on average last year. According to the senior official, her ministry's downward projection of Thailand's GDP growth in 2015 was due to impacts from the global economic slowdown and a fall in Thai exports, expected to shrink by 5.4 per cent this year. The senior official noted that the Thai government's recent economic stimulus measures, including funds to help farmers affected by this year’s drought and financial assistance given to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), should help boost domestic consumption and private investment this year to a certain extent. (TNA)