Bangkok capital city of Thailand (Photo: AFP) Hanoi (VNA) – The economy of Thailand improved inJuly thanks to public spending and an easing of coronavirus containmentmeasures, according to the Bank of Thailand (BoT).
July’s private consumption rose 2.7 percent fromJune as activity resumed, while annual exports shrank at a smaller pace of 11.9percent.
Reuters quoted Don Nakornthab, a director at thecentral bank, as saying on August 31 that: “Looking forward, there are stillhigh uncertainties.”
Most uncertain are foreign tourist numbers,which could miss the central bank’s projection of 8 million, he said, notingThailand could at best have 6.7 million foreign visitors this year, meaning 1.3million fewer tourists than the BOT’s forecast, affecting GDP by 0.5 percent,he said.
The tourism-reliant country received 6.69million international tourists in January-March but the influx ended on April 4when Thailand imposed a ban on foreign vacationers to keep the coronavirus out.
That compares with last year’s record 39.8million visitors whose spending made up about 11.4 percent of GDP.
In July, Thailand had a current account surplusof 1.79 billion USD after a trade surplus hit a five-month high of 4.11 billionUSD, driven by higher gold exports./.
VNA
