Thai economy forecast to pick up in 2022 after reopening

Tourists rest on a beach in Phuket of Thailand on October 28 (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Bangkok (VNA) - The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) of Thailand forecast this country’s economy will pick up next year at 4 percent as the pandemic situation is expected to improve and the country reopens on November 1.

However, the FPO has downgraded its forecast for Thailand’s economic growth this year to an average 1 percent from the previously predicted 1.3 percent, mainly driven by the COVID-19 resurgence in April, which severely impacted the country in the third quarter.

Director-General of the office Pornchai Thiraveja said Thailand's economy this year is set to expand in the range of 0.5 - 1.5 percent.

The FPO estimated an economic contraction of 3.5 percent in Q3 this year, due to the resurgence of infections. It projected economic expansion of 3 percent in Q4 after the country's reopening.

The number of international tourist arrivals in Thailand is expected to reach 180,000 this year, of which 80,000 has been achieved. Around 100,000 foreign tourists are expected to visit the country after November 1, according to the FPO.

Earlier, Kasikorn Research Centre (KResearch) had upgraded its 2021 economic growth projection for Thailand to an expansion of 0.2 percent from the previously forecast 0.5-percent contraction. It issued a growth projection of 3.7 percent for 2022.

Last year, the Thai economy shrank 6.1 percent following a collapse of the tourism industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic./.

VNA