BANGKOK, 21 August 2012 – Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong has indicated positive signs in the Thai economy in the first half of the year while assuring that the 2012 GDP will grow by 7% as forecast.
Mr. Kittiratt said the Cabinet on Tuesday expressed no concern after the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) had cut the export growth target this year from 15.1% to 7.3%. He explained that the board saw that there were other factors apart from export that influenced the country’s economic growth and also believed that export in the 2nd half of the year would improve.
According to Mr. Kittiratt, the 2nd quarter GDP has managed to expand by 4.2% despite little growth in export during the first half of the year.
The deputy premier said the government still had four months before the end of the year to make the economy grow beyond the forecast figure. He was confident that the 2013 Appropriation Act would facilitate the government’s work in increasing income for the people and that this year’s GDP would grow by 7% as targeted now that domestic consumption had started to improve.
