BANGKOK — The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking will revise its projection of the gross domestic product (GDP) growth downwards due to many factors including the novel coronavirus.
Representing the committee, Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the committee was likely to revise the 2020 projection downwards from its previous range of 2.5-3% because the economy was facing the virus outbreak, drought, national budget delay, smog and strong baht.
However, he said that the Thai Chamber of Commerce had confidence in the government’s measures to cope with the viral outbreak and it was communicating the government’s guidelines to prevent the disease transmission to its members. He praised hoteliers for screening their customers for the disease in many provinces.
Mr Kalin urged the government to supply enough products to help control the disease such as face masks, tissue paper and hand wash gel for target groups including young children and elderly people in slum communities as well as passengers at bus and boat terminals.