The reason attributed the lower growth to the domestic political unrest coupled with sluggishness of the global economy.
FTI Vice Chairman Tanit Sorat said economic growth could fall below 3 percent to just 2.8 percent.
He added that as the country awaits national elections set on February2, Thai economy will be barred from expanding until the second quarterof 2014.
He said GDP growth next year will fail to reach4-5 percent as predicted by Office of the National Economics and SocialDevelopment Board.
The Thai economy in 2013 is projectedto grow by 3 percent, compared with 6.5 percent in 2012. The growth rateis likely to be around 4-5 percent in 2014.-VNA