Thailand’s economic growth this year is expected to be about 2.8%, largely due to increasing exports and tourism. This compares favourably against 1.8% GDP growth last year, according to Pornchai Theeravet, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office and spokesman for the Finance Ministry.
He said that 33.5 million foreign arrivals are expected this year, an increase of 19.5% year-on-year. This will generate about 1.48 trillion baht in tourism revenues, an increase of 23.6% over last year.
Thai exports last year contracted by 1.5%, due mainly to an economic slowdown among Thailand’s key trading partners. Especially hard hit were exports of automobiles, computers and electronic goods, as reflected in the manufacturing production index.
Last year, imports also dropped by 1.9% year-on-year, due to a reduction in the value of the Thai baht in the first three quarters of the year,…
