This is the fourth time the committee has revised Thailand's GDP growth forecast for 2019. In 2018, MPC estimated growth at 4.2 percent, then adjusted down to 3.8 percent, 3.3 percent and 2.8 percent respectively, a total 1.4 percentage point decrease from the original estimate.
Local media on September 26 quoted secretary of the MPC Titanun Mallikamas as saying the latest decision of MPC was based on the fact that the country’s economy is growing at a slower rate than expected, especially in the export sector.
Foreign trade disputes as well as the decline in tourism, rising household debt and natural disasters also affected Thailand’s economic growth, he said.
Earlier, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had lowered its projection for Thailand’s economic growth in 2019 to 3 percent from 3.9 percent.
