BANGKOK- Thailand’s leading joint business group on Wednesday said it has maintained its economic growth forecast at 3.0 percent to 4.5 percent this year, despite a rise in coronavirus infections driven by the Omicron variant.
While the virus outbreak had slowed economic activity early in the year, the overall impact is not expected to be severe, said the group which spans industry, banking and commerce.
However, higher inflation is a concern since it could hit 3 percent in the first half and mean the economy expands less than expected, group chairman SupantMongkolsuthree told a news conference.
Headline inflation was at 2.17 percent in December.
The group is sticking to its forecast for foreign tourist arrivals of 5 million to 6 million this year, waiting to see the results of a resumption of a ‘Test & Go’ quarantine waiver, said Supant, who is also head of the Federation of Thai Industries.
The figure compares with the nearly 40 million tourist arrivals recorded in 2019 before the pandemic. There were just about 428,000 foreign tourists in 2021. – Reuters
