BANGKOK, 12 December 2013 The World Bank expects the Thai economy to slow down due to problems with the export sector, although it expects Thailand’s GDP to expand at 4.7% next year due to the revival in the global economy.
During a speech at Chiang Mai University on Wednesday, Kirika Phaophichit, senior economist at the World Bank’s Thailand office said the global economy would recover slowly, due to the slowdown of the Chinese economy and volatility of fund flow. However, the economy of East Asia is expected to perform better than many other regions thanks to the expansion of the regional economy and the various cooperation agreements, such as free trade agreements and the ASEAN Economic Community.
Ms. Kirika asserted the World Bank expects the growth of the Thai economy to slow down because of problems with exports. GDP growth is expected to be under 3.7% for 2013. However, this figure is forecast to improve to 4.7% for 2014 on the back of the global recovery and other measures such as economic stimulant policies, state investments, lowered world oil prices, and the reduction of personal taxes.
