Bangkok capital city of Thailand (Photo: AFP) The economy of Thailand improved in July thanks to public spending and an easing of coronavirus containment measures, according to the Bank of Thailand (BoT).
July’s private consumption rose 2.7 percent from June as activity resumed, while annual exports shrank at a smaller pace of 11.9 percent.
Reuters quoted Don Nakornthab, a director at the central bank, as saying on August 31 that: “Looking forward, there are still high uncertainties.”
Most uncertain are foreign tourist numbers, which could miss the central bank’s projection of 8 million, he said, noting Thailand could at best have 6.7 million foreign visitors this year, meaning 1.3 million fewer tourists than the BOT’s forecast, affecting GDP by 0.5 percent, he said.
The tourism-reliant country received 6.69 million international tourists in January-March but the influx ended on April 4 when Thailand imposed a ban on foreign vacationers to keep the coronavirus out.
That compares with last year’s record 39.8 million visitors whose spending made up about 11.4 percent of GDP.
In July, Thailand had a current account surplus of 1.79 billion USD after a trade surplus hit a five-month high of 4.11 billion USD, driven by higher gold exports./.