JSCCIB raises projection for export performance this year 

The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) sees growth momentum being sustained after “satisfactory” expansion in the first five months of this year.
The JSCCIB also said it supported the government’s move to postpone the enforcement of the controversial foreign labour law for 180 days. 
The concession was announced yesterday. The government had earlier delayed enforcement of the law for 120 days, from June 23. Business groups have broadly expressed concerns for the impact on their operations of a loss of foreign workers.
Export growth could come in higher than expected and approach the Ministry of Commerce's estimate of 5 per cent expansion following an impressive performance in the first five months of 2017, JSCCIB president Predee Daochai, who also chairman of the Thai Bankers' Association, said after the meeting yesterday.
For the rest of this year, export expansion is projected at a slower rate due to falls in global crude prices and the impact of volatility in the strength of the baht, while US trade policy should be kept under close watch, he said.
The fortunes of the global money market may fluctuate due to a number of factors, although the US Federal Reserve has expressed its confidence on the US economy, increasing the likelihood of a further increase in the benchmark interest rate this year, the JSCCIB said. 
The US central bank, in parallel with monetary tightening, will start reducing the size of its balance sheet before the end of this year.
Other central banks also have signalled a winding back of eased monetary policy if the economic recovery is the major economies is sustained. However, this could lead to volatility in exchange rates, the JSCCIB said.
For Thailand, the JSCCIB maintains its forecast for economic growth in a range of 3.5-4 per cent this year , while revising down headline inflation to 0.5-1.5 per cent from an earlier prediction of 1-2 per cent, reflecting its relatively low level in the first half.
Prices may not accelerate much in the latter half of this year, given a lack of supporting factors for global crude prices, Predee said. 
Thailand’s domestic spending may face challenges after declines in the prices for some agricultural products, he said, adding that state and private investment in proposed big projects would take time their benefits to be felt.
On yesterday’s concession over enforcement of the foreign labour law, the Federation of Thai Industries president Chen Namchaisiri said that the JSCCIB, in addition to welcoming the extension to 180 days, also supported the government’s efforts to tackle human trafficking as well as slave labour. 
He accepted some businesses would face hardships from requirements for stricter regulation of foreign workers but that this would benefit the country in the long term.
The JSCCIB comprises the Board of Trade of Thailand, the Federation of Thai Industries and the Thai Bankers' Association.