External risk factors not seriously affect Thai economy

BANGKOK, June 14 (TNA) - Existing external risk factors, including impacts from "Brexit" and a diplomatic issue between Qatar and its Gulf neighboring states, should not seriously affect the Thai economy. Thai Vice Minister to Commerce Winitchai Chamchang voiced the comments on Wednesday, saying that he viewed the external risk factors should be short-term issues. Winitchai noted that the Bank of Thailand (BOT) has taken good care of the Thai baht, which has only become stronger moderately when compared with other currencies in the region amid the same risk factors. Winitchai stressed that the strengthening baht should not seriously affect Thailand's exports during the rest of this year. The Thai vice minister explained that growing Asian economies have remained the potential markets for Thai exports, helping ease serious impacts on the Thai economy from an internal challenge in Britain in its ongoing process to leave the European Union (EU), widely known as "Brexit", following its snap election last week and from a recent decision by several Gulf states to severe their diplomatic relations with Qatar for Doha's alleged support for transnational terrorism. The vice minister pointed out that Thailand now more focuses on cross-border trade with neighboring countries in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) whose economies have been rapidly growing and becoming major platforms to drive forward the Thai economy and exports. The vice minister, thus, expressed his confidence that Thailand's overall export growth should stand at 5 per cent as earlier targeted. According to the vice minister, overall border trade between Thailand and neighboring countries in AEC during the first four months of this year stood at 354 billion baht, a 4.36 per cent year-on-year increase, with the Thai economy gaining a total trade surplus of 90 billion baht. (TNA)