BANGKOK, 18 Oct 2013 The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) has cut down this year’s GDP growth target to 3.5 percent from 4.3 percent anticipated earlier.
Director of the UTCC’s Center for Economic and Business Forecasting Thanawat Polwichai said as the US is still in its economic collapse, Thailand has to keep a watchful eye on whether or not the US will withdraw its quantitative easing or QE measures. He said if the US does stop its stimulus measures, its domestic consumption will shrink, which will in turn slowdown the Thai exports.
As for this year’s GDP growth, the director expects to see only a 3.5 percent increase, 0.8 percent lower than its previous anticipation, adding that Thailand will see a trade deficit of 25 billion US dollars, 5 billion higher than last year’s figure. He cited increasing household debt and the slowdown in the government’s mega projects as the main factors contributing to the lower-than-expected economic growth.
He further forecast that Thailand’s economic growth for the year 2014 will be around 5.5 percent, thanks to the government and the private sector’s spending, whereas the country’s tourism industry will see approximately 100 billion baht cash flow.
