BOT:Thai economy may grow over 4% in 2018

BANGKOK, February 1 (TNA) - The Bank of Thailand (BOT) says it is possible that the Thai economy will grow by about 4.2 per cent year-on-year in 2018, as projected by the Ministry of Finance, if the private consumption grows by 3.5 per cent, coupled with expanding investment and spending on public projects by the government. A BOT senior director for financial economy, Don Nakornthab, told journalists of the positive prospect on January 31, acknowledging that the central bank has initially forecast Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) should grow by 3.9 per cent year-on-year in 2018, on top of over 4 per cent year-on-year in 2017 boosted mainly by the country's expanding exports and tourism. Don revealed that BOT plans to review its projection on Thailand's GDP growth this year in March, taking key economic indicators in January and February into consideration. The senior BOT director also tentatively assessed that Thai exports should further grow by 4.3 per cent year-on-year in 2018, as the United States' new policy on imposing import tariffs on solar cells and washing matchines, recently announced by President Donald Trump, should not seriously affect overall Thai exports, as the two products account for only 0.3 per cent of total Thai export annually. (TNA)