Private sector foresees Thai economy to grow 3% in 2015

BANGKOK, July 7 (TNA) - The Thai private sector has revised its projection of the national economic growth rate this year to 3 per cent, from its earlier forecast of 3.5 per cent. The revision was made at Tuesday's meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking, comprising the Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) and the Thai Bankers’ Association. Boontak Wangcharoen, President of the Thai Bankers’ Association, told journalists after the meeting that the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking decided to revise the country's forecast economic growth rate this year due to impacts from a global economic slowdown and a slower-than-expected Thai export growth. Boontak said overall Thai exports in 2015 are, thus, now projected to contract by 2 per cent, from a slight expansion of less than 1 per cent forecast earlier. Before the resolution, Boontak revealed, participants in the meeting discussed performances of the Thai economy in May 2015 and found that there were signs of recovery in non-durable goods and service sectors, while the domestic tourism has continued growing. Besides, the public sector also speeded up budget disbursements with a positive sign that more money should be injected into Thai regions as of the third quarter of this year. However, Tuesday's meeting found that private investment remained weak in accordance with declining consumers' confidence and industrial output plus a continual shrink in overall Thai exports since early this year despite expanding shipments of Thai products to the US and the Australian markets. The Thai Bankers’ Association chief conceded that risk factors remain in private investment in the country in the second half of this year. (TNA)