Thai economy may lose US$3.2b a month after new virus outbreak

• Apr 22, 2021

[BANGKOK] Thailand’s economy could lose US$3.19 billion a month, mainly in the service sector, a university said on Thursday, as the tourism-reliant nation deals with a third Covid-19 wave and a highly contagious variant.

The new outbreak, which has seen over 18,000 cases in just 22 days, might reduce the number of workers by 149,000 a month, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said.

The university expects the new wave to be controlled within two or three months like the previous outbreaks, cutting gross domestic product (GDP) by 1.2 per cent to 1.8 per cent, university president Thanavath Phonvichai told a briefing.

“If there will be economic stimulus measures, the economy may grow 1.2 per cent to 1.6 per cent this year,” Dr Thanavath said, adding the university’s current forecast was for 2.8 per cent growth.

Household debt levels might rise to 92 per cent of GDP this year as the outbreak has cut income and jobs, he said.

The debt hit 89.3 per cent of GDP, the highest since records began, at the end of 2020, when Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy suffered its deepest slump in over two decades due to the pandemic.

The new spread, which accounts for more than a third of Thailand’s cases so far, also comes as the country takes tentative steps to reopen to foreign visitors after a year of tightened border controls.

REUTERS