GDP growth may dive to 1.6% this year if the government fails to stimulate an economy reeling from the third wave of the pandemic, says the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC).
Despite maintaining its GDP growth forecast at 2.8%, the university on Thursday warned the government about dimmer prospects as economic growth will be partly determined by state outlays in 2021.
The UTCC suggests the government splurges 200-300 billion baht through stimulus packages to compensate for the lengthy Covid-19 impact, which has damaged the Thai economy since last year.
The 1.6% growth prediction assumes the government takes only two months to control the latest outbreak and the alarmingly high daily infection rates, said UTCC president Thanavath Phonvichai.
A two-month outbreak is enough to decrease people’s spending by 200 billion baht, or a decrease of 1.2…
