The Thai economy requires urgent stimulus measures after its growthdeclining in two consecutive quarters, the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) ofthe Thai Financial Ministry stated on August 21.
FPO Deputy Director Ekniti Nitithanpraphat said that his agency ispreparing to revise its economic growth forecast for year 2013 down fromthe prior forecast of 4.5 percent due to the clear signals of economicslowdown. These signals come from both consumption and privateinvestment sectors.
He added that the Thai government needs tospeed up the spending of the remaining budget of 170 billion THB (5.48billion USD) in the 2013 fiscal year in order to stimulate the stagnateeconomy.
The 2-trillion-THB (64.5 billion USD)infrastructure development project plays an important role in pushingthe economy between now and the year-end.
TheNational Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) has announced thegrowth of Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the secondquarter at 2.8 percent - slightly lower than the FPO’s estimate of 3percent.-VNA