BANGKOK: Thailand’s economic growth strengthened in the second quarter due to higher consumption, tourism and exports, official data showed on Monday (Aug 19), and the government narrowed its full-year growth forecast range.
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy grew 2.3 per cent in the April-June quarter from a year earlier, data from the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) showed, beating analysts’ expectations for a 2.1 per cent expansion in a Reuters poll.
In the January-March quarter of 2024, gross domestic product (GDP) rose an upwardly revised 1.6 per cent on the year.
On a quarterly basis, GDP grew a seasonally adjusted 0.8 per cent in the second quarter, lower than an upwardly revised 1.2 per cent expansion in the previous three months and a poll forecast for 0.9 per cent growth.
Private consumption continued to grow in the second quarter but public and private investments contracted, the state planning agency NESDC said in a statement.
The NESDC now expects GDP growth of between 2.3 per cent and 2.8 per cent this year, narrowing from its previous forecast range of 2.0 per cent to 3.0 per cent. Last year’s growth was 1.9 per cent.
Thailand’s economy has lagged regional peers as it faces high household debt and borrowing costs as well as sluggish exports amid a slowdown in top trading partner China.
The planning agency maintained its export growth forecast at 2 per cent for this year.
