A senior Thai Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) official on Tuesday said the re-election of President Barack Obama will bring a positive economic impact to Thailand and Asia as a whole given the continuity of US policy.
FPO director-general Somchai Sajjapong said that President Obama’s victory would help the United States continue its economic relations, trade and investments with other countries.
President Obama will focus on diplomatic moves in US relations with other countries, which Somchai said will be positive to US trade and investments abroad including Thailand.
The director-general also viewed that the investment atmosphere will improve, for Asian countries will benefit from the US unlocking ‘fiscal cliff’ changes as hoped by investors.
Somchai said he believes such measures will be accepted and benefit the US economy itself as well as Thailand, for the United States is one of Thailand’s main export markets. If the US economy recovers, it would help the Thai export sector to revive and may offset market problems in the troubled European Union (EU).
However, he said other factors to be considered concerning the US election’s impact on the Thai economy would depend also on world oil prices, currency exchange rates, and political factors.
Thailand’s finance ministry remains confident that economic growth this year will reach 5.5 percent and 5.2 percent next year.
Meanwhile, PTT Global Chemical president Anon Sirisaengtaksin said Obama’s re-election will not change US economic policies which will focus on tackling unemployment through domestic investment encouragement and adjusted tax measures to help stimulate domestic spending.
Anon said the US will focus on promoting domestic shale gas production in order to lower oil imports, which will help create jobs for Americans but that will take time. The next two years could see oil prices as high as US$100/barrel.
