Bangkok’s skyline is photographed during sunset in Bangkok, Thailand, July 3, 2023. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha/File photo
BANGKOK -Thailand’s finance ministry has lowered the country’s 2023 economic growth outlook to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent projected earlier, as tourism maintains strength but tepid global demand crimps exports, officials said on Wednesday.
Exports, a key driver of the Thai economy, are forecast to contract 0.8 percent this year, compared with a previous forecast for a 0.5-percent drop, Pornchai Thiraveja, head of the ministry’s fiscal policy office, told a briefing.
READ: Thai exports drop less than expected in May, seen improving in second half
The ministry predicts a small impact from a delayed budget for the fiscal 2024 starting in October, he said, as Thailand has yet to form a new government after the national election in May.
If the…
