Economy seen shrinking in Q1 due to virus outbreak

The tourism-reliant economy could contract in the first quarter from the preceding three months and the corresponding year earlier period due to the impact of a new coronavirus outbreak, the central bank said on Wednesday.

The Southeast Asian country had largely contained the spread of Covid-19 by mid-2020, but a new outbreak that emerged in December slowed domestic activity.

While the economy improved in February as infections subsided, gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter might not be as good as the previous quarter and a year earlier, when restrictions were not yet in full swing, said Chayawadee Chai-Anant, senior director of the economic and policy department.

“So, we think it should be negative both…