The government’s Chim Shop Chai (Taste, Shop, Use) campaign has helped boost domestic spending. The Center for Economic and Business Forecasting of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) has forecast that the second phase of this campaign will help the Thai economy expand by 3% this year.
The Director of the Center for Economic and Business Forecasting, Asst. Prof. Dr. Thanavath Phonvichai, said today that business representatives surveyed by the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) remained concerned about the trade war between China and the US, as it had slowed global economic growth, while Thai exports in August contracted 4%. The business representatives were also concerned with a series of mass protests in Hong Kong. In addition, prices of agricultural products remain low due to the flooding in northeastern Thailand, and farmers had less spending power. The TCC confidence index fell to 46.2 points in September, the ninth consecutive month of contraction. The future confidence index also fell to 48.1 points last month.
However, the Thai economy is being supported by several positive factors. One of them is the government’s Chim Shop Chai economic stimulus measure, which has won overwhelming public interest. If the second phase is implemented as expected, the Thai economy will continue to improve. When the national budget is passed by the House of Representatives, budget disbursement should be undertaken immediately to help drive the country’s economic growth. peaking of the monetary policy, a measure to stabilize the baht’s value should be implemented to support Thai exports and tourism in the fourth quarter. With these contributing factors, the Thai economy should grow by 2.8 to 3.0% this year.
 |
 |
 |
