Thai Finance Ministry expects 4 per cent GDP growth in 2021
BANGKOK, Nov 26 — The Finance Ministry of Thailand plans to expand the government’s co-payment economic stimulus scheme while foreseeing a 4per cent economic growth next year, Thai news agency (TNA) reported.
Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said that the Thai economy was bottoming out from its most serious 12 per cent yearly decline in the second quarter of this year and there were clear signs of recovery afterwards.
The economic contraction in the third quarter slowed down to 6 per cent while the foreign exchange reserves stood at US$241 billion or four times as much as short-term debts.
Besides, public debts were equivalent to 49.4 per cent of the gross domestic product while the financial discipline capped public debts’ proportion at 60 per cent of GDP, Arkhom said.
He predicted that GDP would grow by 4 per cent next year and 3-5 per cent yearly in the next five years.
The finance minister said that the government would be introducing measures to stimulate local purchasing power and that would include the second phase of the co-payment scheme next year.
Thailand was financially strong and the status was reflected by Standard & Poor’s BBB+ credit rating for the country.
In response to S&P’s call for Thailand to increase local investment, he said that the government would be investing in infrastructure projects and supporting potential projects.
He said the government did not plan to borrow a foreign loan next year in addition to the US$1.5-billion loan sought from the Asian Development Bank.