Politics is a short-term risk: Kittiratt

At today's conference on "The Future of Thai Economy - Rise or Flop" hosted by Krungthep Turakij, he said the economy should be doing fine in the last quarter of the year thanks to government spending and the burgeoning growth in the tourism industry.

He assured all that the government would be able to inject about Bt740 billion into the economy in the last quarter. 

At the same conference, Roong Poshyanonda Mallikamas, director of the Bank of Thailand's macroeconomic department, admitted that political protests could send some negative impacts on investment and the tourism industry. However, the central bank is still convinced that the economy this year would expand by 3.7 per cent this year and 4.8 per cent next year, thanks to recovery in the global economy as well as stabilisation in domestic consumption.

Usara Wilaipich, senior economist of Standard Chartered Bank (Thai), expected the Thai economy to expand by 5.5 per cent next year thanks to export recovery.