Posted on 30 Jun 2009
The country’s gross domestic product for 2009 would contract by about four per cent this year due to the global recession, the dean of the business school at the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA), Ekkachai Nittayasetrawat, said on Tuesday.
Mr Ekkachai said even though the economy's slide bottomed out in the first quarter of the year, with the GDP at minus 7.1 per cent, the recession would continue in the second half of the year.
“We expect the GDP to shrink by about 6.8 per cent in the second quarter. The contraction should be about 4.5 per cent in the third quarter and then improve to plus 1.5 per cent in the fourth quarter,'' he said.
''This will mean an overall minus 4 per cent for the whole year.”
He stressed that the government must make effective use of the 800 billion baht lin oans recently approved by the parliament.
The money should be spent to stimulate investment in mega-projects that could substantially shore up the economy, such as transport and logistic networks, electric trains, dual rail tracks and irrigation projects.
The government should also oversee the value of the baht to ensure that it is not too strong. The export sector was already suffering from the global financial meltdown and an over-valued currency would add to its problems.
