Thailand’s economy to gather much needed pace next year
The World Bank revised up its forecast for Thailand’s economic growth by 0.1 percentage point to 3.2 per cent for next year in anticipation that exports will pick up due to the US economic recovery, and also changed its earlier outlook for 2016.
For this year, Thailand’s economic growth rate is expected to register GDP growth of 3.1 per cent instead of 2.5 per cent as predicted earlier, thanks to what the World Bank calls “effective fiscal policy, increased investments and improved disbursements of funding.”
Most of the growth is owing to the booming tourism industry and partly to the recovery of private sector consumption, while exports are still stagnant. Increased infrastructure investment by the government is also seen as a major driver.
With regards to exports, the World Bank anticipates exports of goods and services from Thailand to grow by 1 per cent in 2017, up from 0.4 per cent growth predicted for this year, depending on developments in the US and Europe.
“Uncertainties regarding US trade policy resulting from President-elect Trump remain an issue,” said Kiatipong Ariyapratya, senior economist at Bangkok-based World Bank’s regional office, at a press meeting on December 19, adding that “other headwinds include uncertainties over global economic growth and the effects of Brexit.”
He, however, noted that despite the improved performance, Thailand’s growth rate remains low compared to neighbouring countries with growth rate averaging four to five per cent. To reach such rates, he recommended the government liberalises the service sector to better participate in growth within the ASEAN Economic Community, as well as improves efficiency in the production sector.
Among the eight developing ASEAN countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar – Thailand is expected to achieve the smallest growth in 2017, which many analysts say was clearly below the country’s capabilities.
According to the World Bank, Myanmar is expected next year to grow fastest (8.4 per cent ), followed by Laos (7 per cent), Cambodia (6.9 per cent), the Philippines (6.9 per cent), Vietnam (6.3 per cent), Indonesia (5.3 per cent) and Malaysia (4.5 per cent).
The World Bank revised up its forecast for Thailand's economic growth by 0.1 percentage point to 3.2 per cent for next year in anticipation that exports will pick up due to the US economic recovery, and also changed its earlier outlook for 2016. For this year, Thailand’s economic growth rate is expected to register GDP growth of 3.1 per cent instead of 2.5 per cent as predicted earlier, thanks to what the World Bank calls "effective fiscal policy, increased investments and improved disbursements of funding." Most of the growth is owing to the booming tourism industry and partly to the...
The World Bank revised up its forecast for Thailand’s economic growth by 0.1 percentage point to 3.2 per cent for next year in anticipation that exports will pick up due to the US economic recovery, and also changed its earlier outlook for 2016.
For this year, Thailand’s economic growth rate is expected to register GDP growth of 3.1 per cent instead of 2.5 per cent as predicted earlier, thanks to what the World Bank calls “effective fiscal policy, increased investments and improved disbursements of funding.”
Most of the growth is owing to the booming tourism industry and partly to the recovery of private sector consumption, while exports are still stagnant. Increased infrastructure investment by the government is also seen as a major driver.
With regards to exports, the World Bank anticipates exports of goods and services from Thailand to grow by 1 per cent in 2017, up from 0.4 per cent growth predicted for this year, depending on developments in the US and Europe.
“Uncertainties regarding US trade policy resulting from President-elect Trump remain an issue,” said Kiatipong Ariyapratya, senior economist at Bangkok-based World Bank’s regional office, at a press meeting on December 19, adding that “other headwinds include uncertainties over global economic growth and the effects of Brexit.”
He, however, noted that despite the improved performance, Thailand’s growth rate remains low compared to neighbouring countries with growth rate averaging four to five per cent. To reach such rates, he recommended the government liberalises the service sector to better participate in growth within the ASEAN Economic Community, as well as improves efficiency in the production sector.
Among the eight developing ASEAN countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar – Thailand is expected to achieve the smallest growth in 2017, which many analysts say was clearly below the country’s capabilities.
According to the World Bank, Myanmar is expected next year to grow fastest (8.4 per cent ), followed by Laos (7 per cent), Cambodia (6.9 per cent), the Philippines (6.9 per cent), Vietnam (6.3 per cent), Indonesia (5.3 per cent) and Malaysia (4.5 per cent).
