BANGKOK, Oct 2 (TNA) – The Thai economy is likely to grow by 2.7-3.0% this year due to several negative factors, according to the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking.
Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the Board of Trade of Thailand, said after the meeting of JSCCIB that the prolonged trade war between China and the United States, Brexit and strong baht prompted JSCCIB to revise its forecasts on the growth of the gross domestic product and exports from previous anticipations in July.
The GDP growth projection was revised downwards from 2.9-3.3% to 2.7-3.0% and that for export growth was lowered from -1.0-1.0% to -2.0-0.0%, Mr Kalin said. He said that the negative factors were affecting Thai exports and production.
JSCCIB maintained its inflation prediction at 0.8-1.2% for this year.
Mr Kalin asked the government to issue more economic stimulus measures and extend tourism-related cash rebate and cash giveaway scheme beyond the New Year festival.
The present version of the scheme should cause spending worth 20-30 billion baht and would raise the GDP by only 0.1-0.2%, he said.
He also proposed Thailand quote its exports in baht or other local currencies. He estimated damage from recent flooding at 20-25 billion baht. (TNA)
