Thai fin ministry cuts 2021 GDP growth outlook on tourism slump

TheStar Thu, Jan 28, 2021 05:25pm - 3 years View Original


BANGKOK: Thailand's finance ministry on Thursday slashed its 2021 economic growth forecast to 2.8%, from 4.5% growth it projected earlier, after fresh waves of COVID-19 cases in the Southeast Asian nation and other countries hit tourism.

The ministry now expects the tourism-reliant country to receive 5 million foreign tourists this year, down 25% from last year and compared with 8 million predicted earlier, ministry spokeswoman Kulaya Tantitemit told a briefing.

"The main factor for the outlook downgrade is lower foreign arrivals... which have impacted related economic activity despite the government injecting money through stimulus measures," she said.

Tourism generally accounts for 12% of gross domestic product (GDP) and foreign visitor numbers fell 83% to 6.7 million in 2020, when the economy likely contracted 6.5%, the ministry said. Official 2020 GDP will be released next month.

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