April 22, 2008
Bangkok - Finance Minister Surapong Suebwonglee yesterday said he expected the economy to grow 6.0 percent this year amid an improved economic climate, an increase on last year but still one of the lowest in the region.
Sluggish consumer confidence and political uncertainty following a coup in 2006 pushed gross domestic product (GDP) growth down to 4.5 percent last year.
Surapong said the country's economy has been in recovery for over two months, after elections in December brought in a new government and ended more than a year of military rule, according to AFP.
"The basic structure of the Thai economy is already healthy, and considering a continuous rise of the consumer confidence index, everyone agrees that our GDP will not be under 5.0 percent," Surapong said.
"The government still expects that the economy this year will grow 6.0 percent," he added.
That would still be one of the lowest growth figures in the region, with Vietnam and Cambodia expected to grow at 8.4 and 8.5 percent respectively, UN figures show, but Surapong was upbeat.
"According to the International Monetary Fund, Thailand could be the only country in Asia where this year's GDP will be higher than that of last year," he told reporters.
He also said the government's 40-billion-baht (1.3-billion-dollar) economic stimulus program -- a package of tax cuts and other measures to shore up the kingdom's flagging economy -- would start showing results in May.
