Thailand's economy has to rely on domestic demand to achieve its growth target of 1.5 percent this year as the export sector is too weak to play its traditional driving role, according to the Bank of Thailand.

Domestic demand for non-durable goods, private investment and budget disbursement for fiscal 2015 starting October 1 could entirely offset ebbing export growth if that growth came in at 2 percent this year, Assistant Governor of the Monetary Policy Group Mathee Supapongse was quoted by a Thai newspaper as saying.

The outlook is not expected to become much worse since the figure for the first seven months of this year is already relatively low, he said. Exports edged down 0.42 percent year-on-year in the January-July period to 132 billion USD.

The central bank expects full-year export growth to miss its latest official forecast of 3 percent due to China's economic slowdown and Japan's consumption tax hike, Bangkok Post said.

The Thai National Shippers' Council also slashed its export growth forecast to less than 1 percent as the sector navigates risks from the still-fragile global economy, disease outbreaks and escalating cyber attacks.-VNA