Thai economy keeps expanding

BANGKOK, July 17 (TNA) - Bangkok-based University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce says that the Thai economy has been recovering well, boosted mainly by the country's exports and tourism. The university's rector Saowanee Thairungroj made the remarks on Tuesday when she introduced her university's service index for the first time based on data and information gathered from 10 Thai major service business clusters over the past four months, including financial institutes, tourism businesses, hoteliers, restaurants, real estate firms and transport systems. The rector told journalists that the service index exceeded the 50-point level monthly during March-June 2018, showing the well-recovery of the Thai economy, mainly stimulated by the country's export and tourism sectors. The university also reported that the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) confidence index, based on a recent survey of private business operators' opinions, stood at the 48.4 level in June 2018, from the 47.7 level a month earlier, also buoyed by the country's exports and tourism, as well as people's rising purchasing power due to rising prices of farm products and growing border trade. The TCC, thus, maintained its forecast figure of Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year at 4.5 per cent year-on-year on average, as the ongoing trade war between the United States and major trading partners is anticipated to be unlikely to have any serious negative impact on the national economy. Meanwhile, Thai Commerce Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong projected that the country's export growth this year should meet his ministry's target of exceeding 8 per cent year-on-year on average, as the ongoing trade war between the United States and major trading partners should, instead, boost Thai exports of food products later this year, while his ministry is also exploring more potential markets for Thai exporters. (TNA)