Thai economy unaffected by Dubai economic debacle, Dong´s devaluation

BANGKOK, 29 November 2009 (NNT) – The Dubai economic collapse and Vietnam’s devaluation of its currency will not affect the country’s overall economy, according to the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva projected during his weekly talk show “Confidence in Thailand with Prime Minister Abhisit”, that the GDP figure would turn positive in the fourth quarter of 2009, forcasting that the Thai economy will recover well as clearly noticed from the improved unemployment rate and other key economic indicators. According to the recent report released by the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), the country’s GDP stood at minus 2.8% in the third quarter of the year.

He played down concerns on the Thai economy following the recent Dubai economic fallout and Vietnam’s devaluation of its currency during the week. The economic ministers have been assigned to closely monitor the situation, said the Prime Minister, adding that reports on the issue would be submitted to the meeting of Council of Economic Ministers tomorrow in an effort to come up with concrete measures.

The Dubai World, the city-state’s main investment arm announced its plan to seek rescheduling of payments of US$59 billion (2.1 trillion baht) in debts last Friday.

Vietnam devalued its currency, the dong, by roughly 5% against the U.S. dollar while also increasing interest rates in a bid to alleviate the rising inflation during the previous week.