BOT:Thailand's economic fundamentals remain strong

BANGKOK, May 8 (TNA) - The Bank of Thailand (BOT) says that the country's gross domestic product (GDP) is unlikely to shrink this year, thanks to strong national economic fundamentals. BOT Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul told journalists of the national economic outlook on Thursday, noting that the strong fundamentals of the Thai economy should be able to cope with the national economic slowdown this year. Despite protracted domestic political problems, Prasarn assessed, even in the worst-case scenario, Thailand's GDP should not contract and the country should not face an economic crisis this year. However, the BOT governor cautioned that Thailand's strong economic fundamentals can cope with the domestic political problems only in the short term and there can be problems in the medium term without any additional investment. According to the BOT governor, both the private and public sectors are postponing their investment and international investors are waiting for a clear political direction in Thailand. So, if domestic political problems were addressed soon, international investment would finally return to the Thai economy due to the strong national economic fundamentals. Prasarn projected if domestic political problems were solved in mid-2014, the Thai economy would expand better next year, calling for quick domestic political solutions. The central bank governor revealed that the BOT's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was set to revise its forecast of Thailand's economic growth rate for this year downwards from 2.7 per cent and Thai export growth rate downwards from 4.5 per cent on June 18, after Thai exports grew lower than expected in the first quarter of this year. The BOT chief pointed out that the Thai baht remains stable despite the Constitutional Court’s Wednesday dismissal of Yingluck Shinawatra from her caretaker prime minister's status, as international investors remain confident in Thailand's strong economic fundamentals. (TNA)