Bangkok Post – Office trims GDP growth for 2023 by almost 1 point

Host of negative factors hit economy

The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) announced GDP expanded by only 1.8% in 2023, lower than the previous forecast by almost 1 percentage point, attributed to many negative factors affecting the economy, says director-general Pornchai Thiraveja.

Growth was projected to increase to 2.7% in 2023 according to the previous projection in October last year.

The lower than expected growth is attributed to the contraction of exports and the manufacturing sector as reflected by the Manufacturing Production Index (MPI), which fell by 4.7% year-on-year, particularly automotive products which contracted for the 23rd consecutive month, electronics for the 15th month and rubber products for the ninth month.

The FPO predicts the value of exports will drop by 1.5%, compared with the earlier…