BoT slashes its GDP forecast again
Jab procurement key to ensuring growth
The Bank of Thailand (BoT) slashed Thailand’s economic growth forecast for 2021 on Wednesday for the second time this year to 1-2%, largely depending on the procurement and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.
The central bank’s previous estimate of growth of gross domestic product (GDP) was 3% but it now includes three scenarios including the base, worse than the base, and worst-case scenarios, said the secretary for BoT’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Titanun Mallikamas.
For the base scenario, the bank predicts a GDP growth of 2%. This prediction assumes that vaccine procurement and distribution reaches 100 million doses this year and leads to herd immunity in the first quarter of 2022. Moreover, it also…
