A woman shops at a market in Bangkok (Photo: www.bangkokpost.com)The EIC downgraded its2022 economic growth forecast for Thailand to 2.7 percent from 3.2 percent,which was attributed to the Russia - Ukraine war that has led to soaring energyand commodity prices.
Local media cited Yunyong Thaicharoen, SCB's chief wholesalebanking officer and an economist at the EIC, as saying that Thailand's annualaverage headline inflation rate is expected to jump to a 14-year high of 4.9percent this year, rising significantly from a previous forecast of 1.6 percent.
For Thailand, the higherinflation rate will cause domestic spending to recover slower than EICpreviously forecast, said the centre.
Yunyong said given the weak Thai economic rebound amid severalexternal risk factors, the country's recovery to pre-pandemic levels will bedelayed to the third quarter of next year.
He added that the Russia-Ukraine conflict will result in lowernumbers of Russian and European tourists visiting Thailand, though this will partiallybe offset by Asian and ASEAN travellers.
The EIC slightly reduced its foreign tourist arrival projectionfor this year to 5.7 million from 5.9 million, providing the country withannual tourism income of 300 billion THB (about 9 billion USD)./.
VNA
