Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Thailand poised for strong growth in 2004: World Bank
Associated Press Bangkok, April 20
Thailand's economy is expected to grow by 7.2 per cent this year, with greater private consumption, investment and export earnings boosting the country's continued recovery from the regional financial crisis, the World Bank said on Tuesday.
The upswing continues a trend of solid growth that saw the economy expand by 6.7 per cent in 2003 despite the slight impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, on the country's vibrant tourism sector, the bank said in a twice-yearly report. SARS sickened more than 8,000 people worldwide last year and killed at least 774 -- most of them in Asia.
"The economy is now projected to grow even faster in 2004, in part because public investment will be a new driver of growth; such investment will grow by 10 per cent this year, reversing six years of continuing decline," it said.
As the Thai economy has strengthened, the percentage of people living in poverty countrywide has fallen over the past three years. But some regions remain impoverished, particularly the northeast, which continues to be Thailand's poorest region with poverty at 18 per cent.
Thailand has become less vulnerable externally, with foreign exchange reserves growing to $42 billion at the end of 2003 from $38.9 billion in 2002.
The positive outlook is also supported by healthy earnings from export of goods, which grew by 18.6 per cent in 2003 to $78.4 billion over 2002, compared to a 4.8 per cent growth in the previous year.
China and Southeast Asian countries contributed nearly half of those gains while Europe and Japan accounted for a quarter. Exports to China grew by 62 per cent, faster than any other country in Southeast Asia, according to the bank. Electrical and non-electrical machinery and vehicles were the top three contributors to overall export growth.
While private investment picked up last year and in early 2004, it remains significantly lower as a percentage of gross domestic product -- the value of the country's goods and services produced annually -- than it was in the 1980s and than the current level of other countries in the region.
Meanwhile, foreign direct inflows have slipped, but remain higher than they were before the regional financial meltdown of 1997-98.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2004.