BANGKOK, 20 May 2012 – An economic expert has projected that Thailand’s GDP this year should reach 5.9%; although the Eurozone debt crisis has an impact on Thai economic growth.
Director of the Center for Economic and Business Forecasting of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC), Thanawat Polwichai, shared his view that the sovereign debt crisis in Greece would cause a minor indirect effect on Thailand thanks to a small number of Thai exports to Greece.
Mr. Thanawat said however that the ongoing Eurozone debt predicament has restricted an expansion of the Thai economy. Without it, Thailand’s trade, investment, exports as well as tourism business could have been more robust. However, he said, a drastic negative impact from the crisis has yet to come to Thailand.
Despite that, the economic expert said that the UTCC has not yet revised its projection for the country’s GDP growth of 5.9%, which is also in the same range as those predicted by the Bank of Thailand, the office of the National Economic and Social Development Board, and the Ministry of Finance which range between 5.5-6 %.
Mr. Thanawat also expressed his concern over a problem of insufficient labor in the future once the AEC is in effect, saying Thailand would inevitably face labor shortage.
