Thailand Cuts 2015 Gdp Forecast As Baht Remains Pressured

[cavanami]

...no surprise from what see from the Thai business world...or lack of business, as the case may be.

 

Thailand Cuts 2015 GDP Forecast As Baht Remains Pressured

 

http://blogs.barrons.com/asiastocks/2015/08/16/thailand-cuts-2015-gdp-forecast-as-baht-remains-pressured/?mod=yahoobarrons&ru=yahoo

 

Thailand’s GDP grew by 2.8% year-on-year in the second-quarter, down from 3% the quarter before.

Following the footstep of Taiwan, Thailand cut its 2015 growth outlook as well. The government now sees the economy to grow 2.7-3.2% this year, from an earlier estimate of 3-4%. The street expected a 3.1% growth.

Thailand’s economy will remain anemic, said Capital Economics‘ Krystal Tan. The hit will come from all fronts – private consumption, investment and exports:

With 30-40% of the working population employed in the agriculture, the hit to rural incomes from the recent drought will also have knock-on effect for private consumption. Meanwhile, the recent decline in capacity utilisation bodes poorly for private investment growth. Exporters will also continue to struggle amid waning competitiveness and lacklustre global demand.

Capital Economics took down its GDP growth forecast from 2.6% from 3% previously.

Earlier this month, Bank of Thailand kept its benchmark interest rates steady, citing weak baht. The baht has lost over 7% against the U.S. dollar this year and is trading another 0.22% down at 35.3500 recently. The iShares MSCI Thailand Capped ETF (THD) fell 11.9% this year.