Rice sold at a store in Bangkok (Photo: AFP/VNA) Bangkok (VNA) – The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) under Thailand’s Ministry of Finance has raised its growth forecast for the country in 2017 by 0.2 percent to 3.6 percent.
The forecast came after the Government decided to increase mid-year budget spending to 190 billion THB (5.3 billion USD).
It took into account increases of 1.5 percent basic interest, 5.1 percent in public spending and 10.1 percent in public investment. Meanwhile, the number of foreign arrivals to Thailand is expected to hit 35 million from 32.6 million in 2016.
The FPO said under favourable conditions, the economy could even grow 4 percent this year.
FPO Director-General Krisada Chinavicharana noted that the acceleration of state spending would give a boost to export and private investment.
Pimchanok Vokorpon, Director-General of the Commerce Ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office, predicted export growth will be between 2.5 and 3.5 percent, adding that the US’s new trade policies under Trump’s administration would bring both opportunities and challenges to the Thai economy.-VNA
VNA
