Thailand’s economy grew more than analysts estimated in the second quarter as the military government accelerated spending on road and rail projects to help offset weak demand for the nation’s exports.
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In the second quarter, Thailand’s economy grew 3.5% from a year ago, the fastest in 13 quarters and above the 3.2% seen by the street.
The recent series of bombings in several provinces is a blow to Thailand’s important tourism sector, which accounts for roughly 10% of GDP and has been one of the economy’s key growth drivers. It gained as much as 0.2 per cent to 34.685 per USA dollar, its strongest since July 22, 2015, after the data. A poll had forecast 0.5 per cent.
Domestic demand has been sluggish and exports – worth about two-thirds of GDP – have contracted in each of the past three years due to soft global demand and China’s slowdown.
For the first half of this year, Thailand’s economy expanded 3.4% from last year, the NESDB said.
A series of bomb attacks on August 11 and 12 that hit several of the country’s well-known resorts, including Phuket, Krabi and Hua Hin, will have only a temporary impact on the econony and will not affect the full-year figures, Porametee Vimolsiri, deputy secretary-general of the NESDB, told reporters in Bangkok on Monday.
The Reuters poll saw 3.0 per cent growth in 2016, up from 2.8 per cent previous year.
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In April-June, government investment rose 10.4 per cent on year while private investment increased only 0.1 per cent. Fiscal expenditure jumped 19 per cent on the year in the quarter, the strongest since 2013.
