The National Economic and Social Development Council upgrades its export growth forecast to 5.8 percent from 4.2 percent. (Photo: VNA) Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said the government still maintains an economic growth target of 4 percent this year although various economic forecasting agencies have downgraded their outlook to only 2.7-3 percent growth.
The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) recently slashed Thailand's economic growth forecast to 2.8 percent this year, down from 4.5 percent in October 2020, while the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking maintained its economic outlook at 1.5-3.5 percent, despite the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Supattanapong noted three factors, namely exports, domestic tourism and the government's stimulus measures, will help speed up Thailand’s economic growth in the remaining 10 months.
The National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) in February upgraded its export growth forecast to 5.8 percent from 4.2 percent, despite downgrading its economic growth forecast for this year to 2.5-3.5 percent from 3.5-4.5 percent, mainly because of a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections.
Thailand's exports, notably those bound for emerging markets, should be sped up, said Supattanapong, adding that the government also aims to stimulate domestic tourism as fast as possible to generate incomes for the country.
Domestic tourism revenue fell substantially to 600 billion baht (19.7 billion USD) in 2020, down from 1 trillion in 2019, because of the pandemic.
To boost domestic tourism, the Deputy PM said the Thai government looks set to implement additional stimulus measures to increase activities./.
VNA
