BoT cuts 2012 growth forecast to 5.7

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has revised Thailand’s GDP growth forecasts for 2012 and 2013 from 6.0% to 5.7% and 5.8% to 5% respectively, citing the continuous decline of the global economy and its high volatility caused by the EU debt crisis.

Deputy Governor of the BoT Paiboon Kittisrikangwan said the Thai economy had a tendency to improve in the first quarter with clear recovery signs in production and spending. Thailand’s problems in the production sector had greatly declined, helping consumption and private investment to rebound to the level before the floods crisis last year, Mr Paiboon added.

However, the deputy governor said the export sector had yet to fully recover due to the weakening global demand. He warned that the Thai economy was likely to be sluggish from the latter half of this year with smaller quarterly growth. The 2nd quarter of 2012 is expected to see 3.5% expansion, the 3rd quarter 3.2% and the 4th quarter 16.7%. The decreasing growth rates are a result of the global economic downturn and signs of contraction in major industrial countries and new markets.

 

NNT