Head of the Thai finance ministry's fiscal policy office Pornchai Thiraveja (Photo: Internet) Bangkok (VNA) - Thailand's financeministry has lowered the country's economic growth projection for 2023 to 3.5 %from the previous forecast of 3.6% despite a strong recovery in tourism.
Pornchai Thiraveja, head of the ministry'sfiscal policy office, said the country's economy was supported by risingdomestic consumption and the recovery of the tourism sector but sluggish globaldemand has hampered exports – a key driver of the Thai economy.
Exports are forecast to decrease by 0.8%this year, compared with the previous forecast for a 0.5% drop.
Thailand's economy in the first quarter ofthis year grew by 2.7% over the same period in 2022. Economic growth in thewhole of 2022 reached 2.6%.
Pornchai said the finance ministry maintaineda forecast of 29.5 million foreign tourist arrivals this year.
In 2019, the Southeast Asian nation welcomed nearly 40 million visitors,who spent 1.91 trillion THB (55.43billion USD). Tourism accounted for about 12% of Thailand’s gross domesticproduct (GDP).
The ministry predicted an average headline inflationat 1.7% this year, compared with 2.6 % projected earlier.
Last year, Thailand's inflation stood at6.08%. The average exchange rate of the baht against the dollar this year is34.01 baht per US dollar./.
