Owing to improving economic signals, Standard Chartered Thailand now expects the Thai economy to expand by 3% in 2022.
Standard Chartered Bank economist Tim Leelahaphan said the economy was recovering and would expand by 3% in 2022. Said recovery will be gradual, and attention needs to be given to the situation after the reopening of the country. If the spread of COVID-19 can be controlled well, 5-6 million tourists are expected to travel to Thailand. Monitoring is also needed for the export sector and for consumption.
Dr. Tim viewed that fiscal policy will remain the main driver of Thailand’s economy next year, as there remains a need to stimulate the tourism sector and consumption that have slumped because of COVID-19. A challenge will be the implementation of monetary policy, with the Thai business sector still dependent on a low-interest policy. This was in contrast with other countries’ central banks starting to increase their policy interest rates. Owing to this situation, the money market is expected to be volatile.
The Standard Chartered economist expects the Thai Baht’s value to stay within the range of 31-32 baht per USD in the first half of 2022, and to end 2022 at 32 baht 50 satang per dollar. (NNT)
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