BANGKOK, 23 January 2014 The Thai Chamber of Commerce has indicated that the invocation of Emergency Decree has not yet affected the economy and forecast that the economy will grow by 3-4% if the political protests do not turn violent.
Academic from the Thai Chamber of Commerce Thanawat Polwichai said no significant impact had been found in the Thai economy as the stocks continued its upward trend which was a sign that foreign investors were still confident in Thailand. The general public’s spending was also normal, Mr Thanawat said.
The Thai Chamber of Commerce projected that the anti-government protests would result in a 5-7% decrease in domestic consumption and tourism. The decrease accounted for 5-10 billion baht. Without violent incidents, the economy can grow by 3-4% due to its strong fundamentals.
The academic added that the retention of 2.25% policy interest rate by the Monetary Policy Committee showed that the Thai economic was still strong and the global economy was on its way to recovery. The positive outlook would lead to good export growth in the first quarter but the Monetary Policy Committee might decrease the benchmark rate in its next meeting due to concerns over effects of politics on the economy.
