2011 Thai econ to grow 3-5%

BANGKOK, 3 March 2011 (NNT) – The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has expected that the Thai economy this year would grow by about 3-5%, depending on external risk factors and domestic political situation.

Speaking in a seminar on Thursday, BoT Deputy Governor for Financial Institutions Stability Krirk Vanikkul stated that the global economic direction this year is better than last year. According to him, the US and Japanese economies are recovering well although the Euro zone debt crisis remains a risk factor.

Mr Krirk noted that the overall economic situations of G3 countries, including the US, the EU and Japan have improved. He believed that the Chinese economy would continue to grow, and this would also be beneficial to the Thai economic expansion this year.

The deputy governor projected that the Thai economy this year would grow in the upper range of 5%, rather than 3%, if no negative internal factors such as political disturbance happened.

Mr Krirk also indicated that the rising oil price would be another risk factor if the situation in Libya continued to spread to other countries in the Middle East. And if the oil price kept soaring up, the Thai economic growth this year would be unavoidably affected.