Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s economic growth may reach 1.3 percent this year, as forecast by the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO), according to Pisit Puapan, director of the Bureau of Macroeconomic Policy.

Pisit was quoted by local media as saying that factors to watch in the final quarter this year include the performance of the export sector, domestic spending, and the results of the government's stimulus packages. If all these factors fail to perform well, the FPO might cut its economic growth forecast, he said.

The FPO is scheduled to announce its updated GDP growth projection on October 28. The office projected GDP growth of 4.5 percent in 2022.

Pisit believes economic activities in the fourth quarter should improve as Thailand plans to reopen on November 1 to vaccinated foreigners. The COVID-19 infection rate has been on a downward trend since August, he said.

The Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has decided to allow fully vaccinated visitors from Britain, the US, Germany, Singapore and China to visit the kingdom from November 1, though they must present a negative RT-PCR test before arrival.

The FPO forecast international arrivals this year of 300,000. There have been 100,000 thus far. If arrivals are lower than expected, it will not affect the office's GDP growth forecast for this year, said Pisit. Revenue from foreign tourists accounts for 12 percent of the country's GDP.

In April, the FPO forecast Thai GDP growth this year of 2.3 percent before downgrading it to 1.3 percent in July following a new wave of the pandemic./.


VNA