October 30, 2008
Bangkok - The US financial crisis would slightly affect Thai economy and business sector began to slow down, according to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
It was expected Thailand would still be able to tolerate such pressure.
However, the business sector is not confident of future economy. Business people are not sure if economy will slow down next year.
Affected businesses include textile, food, para rubber, and wholesale and retail.
It was predicted that Thailand’s economic growth would remain at 3.5-4% if the economic growth in the fourth quarter were lower than 2.5%.
If so, bad signal for next year’s economy would be confirmed. It is highly possible one million people will be unemployed.
Entrepreneurs wanted to see 1-2% interest cut.
The government was urged to maintain the currency exchange rate at 35-37 baht to one US dollar.
It was also urged to speed up mega-projects and tourism promotion.
