The government’s ambitious goal of 4% economic growth this year will be difficult, requiring a lot of effort and a host of supporting factors such as higher exports, recovering foreign tourist arrivals and active private investment, says the Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Policy Office (FPO).
FPO adviser Wuttipong Jittungsakul said if the government hopes to achieve the 4% figure, exports have to expand by more than 6.2%, international arrivals should exceed 5 million and private investment has to expand by more than 3.4%.
The FPO forecast economic growth at 2.8% this year, compared with a 6.5% contraction in 2020.
Mr Wuttipong said the economy in February showed signs of a gradual recovery in line with higher private investment, as reflected by an expansion of capital goods imports by 18.6% year-on-year and 4% growth of exports excluding gold.
However, overall exports…
