BANGKOK, 31 October 2014 – The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has reported that the Thai economic growth in the third quarter 2014 was lower than expected but the tourism sector started showing signs of gradual recovery after Asian tourists returned to visit Thailand.
Executive of the BoT Rung Malikamas on Friday announced the economic situation in September and the third quarter, saying the economy grew slower than the central bank previously forecast with a modest growth of 0.5% in the private sector’s consumption. The factors which affected such growth included high household debt, low-priced agricultural products and the government’s spending which had also been lower than expected, said Ms. Rung.
The third quarter’s investment was still negative at -1.7%, lower than -0.1% in the previous quarter in part due to low demand for products. However, the government’s budget disbursement for investment in the third quarter was better than the second quarter with the recovery of the tourism sector.
The central bank could not say for now whether the third quarter’s economic growth would make the economy of the whole year expand less than 1.5%, said the BoT executive. She added that the Monetary Policy Committee would consider the matter on 5 November.
