Buildings and temples along the Chao Praya River in Bangkok, Thailand (Photo: AFP)Bangkok (VNA) - The economic cabinet of Thailand remains optimistic that thecountry’s economic growth will exceed 3 percent this yeardespite the sluggish global outlook.
Kobsak Pootrakool, deputy secretary-general on political affairsto the prime minister, said the government's economic team now targets economicgrowth of 3 percent thisyear.
This is in line with the National Economic and Social Development Council'spredictions which forecast growth of between 2.7-3.2 percent for 2019.
The forecast wasmade in the context that the Thai economic cabinet has decided to to inject another 316 billion baht into the economy through a new stimuluspackage.
The stimulus package consists of three main groups of measures:assistance for people affected by the drought crisis, efforts to mitigate theimpact of the global slowdown on the Thai economy, and help for low-incomeearners and the elderly with the high cost of living.
The stimulus package willbe submitted to the government for approval on August 20.
Thanavath Phonvichai, vice-president for research at theUniversity of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC), said the government’seconomic stimulus package is designed to transfer money directly into people'spockets.
The UTCC forecasts that increased spending by those with statewelfare cards, those with newborn babies, and domestic tourists could providearound a 0.2-0.3 percent boostto GDP growth.
The credit guarantees and housing loans provided from statefinancial institutions amounting to around 50-80 billion baht until the end ofthis year will also contribute another 0.2-0.3 percent to the country's GDP growth, Thanavath said.
Additionally, the visa exemption plan is likely to attractaround 200,000-300,000 additional foreign tourists who can be expected to injectanother 15-20 billion baht into the economy, he added.
The country's GDP growth may increase by around 0.5-0.7 percent from earlier forecaststhis year and may guarantee the country's GDP growth will be more than 3 percent despite underlyingnegative external factors such as the US-China trade war and Brexit, said Thanavath.-VNA
Kobsak Pootrakool, deputy secretary-general on political affairsto the prime minister, said the government's economic team now targets economicgrowth of 3 percent thisyear.
This is in line with the National Economic and Social Development Council'spredictions which forecast growth of between 2.7-3.2 percent for 2019.
The forecast wasmade in the context that the Thai economic cabinet has decided to to inject another 316 billion baht into the economy through a new stimuluspackage.
The stimulus package consists of three main groups of measures:assistance for people affected by the drought crisis, efforts to mitigate theimpact of the global slowdown on the Thai economy, and help for low-incomeearners and the elderly with the high cost of living.
The stimulus package willbe submitted to the government for approval on August 20.
Thanavath Phonvichai, vice-president for research at theUniversity of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC), said the government’seconomic stimulus package is designed to transfer money directly into people'spockets.
The UTCC forecasts that increased spending by those with statewelfare cards, those with newborn babies, and domestic tourists could providearound a 0.2-0.3 percent boostto GDP growth.
The credit guarantees and housing loans provided from statefinancial institutions amounting to around 50-80 billion baht until the end ofthis year will also contribute another 0.2-0.3 percent to the country's GDP growth, Thanavath said.
Additionally, the visa exemption plan is likely to attractaround 200,000-300,000 additional foreign tourists who can be expected to injectanother 15-20 billion baht into the economy, he added.
The country's GDP growth may increase by around 0.5-0.7 percent from earlier forecaststhis year and may guarantee the country's GDP growth will be more than 3 percent despite underlyingnegative external factors such as the US-China trade war and Brexit, said Thanavath.-VNA
VNA
