Thailand Economic Growth on Recovery Path
The Worldbank yet again raised its Thailand Economic Growth forecast to 4.5% this week, up by 0.4 percent from its earlier forecast this year for the kingdom this year. Economic growth reached 4.8% in the first quarter of 2018, which is the highest recorded pace since 2013. Thailand is now on the path to economic recovery after growth rates declined to 2.3 % in 2014-2016, concludes the Worldbank.
The main drivers for the economy in Thailand has been public spending on infrastructure projects according to the World Bank East Asia and Pacific Economic Update released on Thursday in Manila, aptly labeled ‘Navigating Uncertainty.’
Thailand Needs to Address Structural Constraints to Growth while Promoting Inclusion
Opportunities to reinforce economic growth to be more balanced for the elimination of poverty and the shared prosperity of all Thai citizens according to the Worldbank report include:
- Improve the business regulatory environment
- Expand trade through enhanced integration with the global economy
- Bolster growth by implementing transformative public investments to crowd-in private capital
- Stimulate domestic consumption
- Improve the quality of public services across the entire country.
Sudhir Shetty, World Bank chief economist for East Asia and Pacific further said via a video conference that Thailand needs to improve its human capital and education system to increase its competitiveness.
In 2019 and 2020 Thailand Economic Growth is anticipated to be at a more moderate 3.9%.
Slowing of the Chinese Economy and US Rate Rise Pose Risks
In developing East Asia and Pacific countries are believed to slow down to 6.3% in 2018 from 6.6% in 2017, mainly due to the continued rebalancing of the Chinese economy.
The World Bank also cautioned about the impact of trade disputes and financial market turbulence because of the rate rise in the US, as this has led to capital outflows from emerging markets.
