Thai economy to grow at potential rate

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) expects the economy will start stabilising from the third quarter thanks to accelerated growth and the potential to meet the 2.6% expansion target for 2024.

At the second monetary policy forum for this year held in Bangkok on Wednesday, senior BOT executives said that the current benchmark interest rate of 2.5% per annum is suitable for current economic conditions, despite the Government’s repeated calls for an interest rate cut.

Piti Disyatat, assistant BOT governor of the monetary policy group, said that this year's first and second quarters have witnessed accelerated recovery, which will help the economy stabilise to quality growth from the third quarter to early next year.

He added that the third quarter will see stable growth from several dimensions, including expansion, inflation and finance. However, the rate will not be very high as there are several factors slowing down growth such as fundamental factors and distribution of income.

Speaking at the same forum, Pranee Sutthasri, senior director of the macro-economy group at BOT, held that Thailand should achieve 2.6% growth this year thanks to rising domestic demand and tourism revenue.

She revealed that the manufacturing and export sectors have started to rebound, adding several growth engines will begin to stabilise, including government spending and exports.

Meanwhile, Surat Thaenboon, senior director of BOT’s financial policy group, said the central bank’s inflation framework of 1-3% is working efficiently to keep inflation in line with the Thai economic situation.

He noted that BOT has been working to prevent household debts from worsening and has devised some measures to take care of some vulnerable groups with high household debts.