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Thailand: Top industry grouping raises 2017 export forecast
A grouping of Thailand’s top industry bodies on Tuesday raised its 2017 export forecast to 2-3.5% from 1-3% on stronger-than-expected first-quarter and improved global demand.
Exports, a key factor for the country’s economic growth, rose 4.9% in the January-March period from a year earlier after it climbed slightly in 2016, the first annual increase in four years.
This grouping comprises the Federation of Thai Industries, Thai Bankers Association and the Thai Chamber of Commerce.
Shipments of electronics, autos, rubber products and chemicals should continue to increase, Predee Daochai, group chairman and president of the Thai Bankers Association, told a news conference.
“Any impact of change in the US trade polices on Thailand should be minimal because 40% of Thai exports to the United States come from US firms, mainly electronics, with the remaining 60% mainly consumer goods that the United States does not produce,” said Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Trade of Thailand.
Thailand runs a trade surplus with the United States, and US. President Donald Trump in March ordered a study of the causes of US trade deficits.
Despite the improvement in exports, the group decided to stick to its economic growth forecast of 3.5%-4% this year, with growth seen picking up in the second half, Mr Predee said.
“Thailand’s economic recovery is not uneven yet,” he said. “But a better-than-expected global outlook will be positive for exports, making the economy fare better compared with the first half.”
The central bank has forecast Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy to grow 3.4%this year and exports will rise 2.2%. The economy expanded 3.2% in 2016.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1242427/top-industry-grouping-raises-2017-export-forecast