Northeastern flooding damages 0.1% of GDP

BANGKOK, Aug 2 (TNA) -- Flooding in the Northeast initially damaged 0.1% of the gross domestic product which the hardest hit is agriculture, followed by commerce, industries and services, Kasikorn Research Center said. The center estimated the damage at 15.72 billion baht which is equivalent to 0.1% of the GDP. Damage amounted to 12.37 billion baht in agriculture, 2 billion baht in commerce and industries and 1.35 billion baht in tourism and services. The initial estimation did not include properties and subsequent impacts, the center said. It maintains its projection of 3.4% GDP growth this year as the damage is not substantial compared with the size of the national economy and Thai exports are growing well. However, the center said that flooding had serious impacts on local people of the Northeast because they had already suffered low income, unemployment and problems of small and medium-sized enterprises. (TNA)