GDP likely to rise well in the year’s second half

BANGKOK, June 30 – The Finance Ministry predicts that the Thai economy will grow faster in the second half of this year than its pace in the first half. Krisada Chinavicharana, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office and spokesman of the Finance Ministry, said export grew 12.7% year-on-year in May and resulted in a trade surplus of US$5.1 billion in the first five months of this year. In the same period the country welcomed 14.61 million visitors, rising 4.6% year-on-year. Most of them came from China and the number of Chinese visitors increased for the first time in three months. Apart from Chinese tourists, visitors from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, South Korea and India formed a substantial number of foreign tourists, he said. Mr Krisada also said that government investment was reaching the national economic system as 50.3% of investment budgets was disbursed and contracts were signed for the spending of 70.7% of tied-over budgets. Besides, 26.2% of the 160-billion-baht additional spending budget in this fiscal year was disbursed and contracts were signed for the spending of 39.3% of the additional budget. Therefore, the Finance Ministry believed that the economy would grow faster in the second half of this year and the gross domestic product should expand more than the 3.3% target of the government, he said. In another development the National Statistical Office will have 70,000 students interview 14.1 million people who already registered with the government as poor people. The students would collect the information of the poor including their request for government help from July 20 to Aug 18, said Tanate Rungrojchaiporn, deputy director-general of the office. (TNA)