WB raises Thai growth forecast to 4.1 per cent
THE WORLD Bank (WB) has revised up Thailand’s economy growth this year to 4.1 per cent from its previous estimate of 3.6 per cent given the country’s robust performance.
The bank has also revised up its forecast of Thailand’s economy in the year 2019 and 2020 to 3.8 per cent for both years, up from its previous estimate of 3.5 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, the World Bank forecasts global economic growth will remain robust at 3.1 per cent in 2018 before slowing gradually over the next two years as advanced-economy growth decelerates and the recovery in major commodity-exporting emerging market and developing economies levels off.
“If it can be sustained, the robust economic growth that we have seen this year could help lift millions out of poverty, particularly in the fast-growing economies of South Asia,” World Bank group president Jim Yong Kim said.
“But growth alone won’t be enough to address pockets of extreme poverty in other parts of the world. Policymakers need to focus on ways to support growth over the longer run — by boosting productivity and labour force participation — in order to accelerate progress toward ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity.”
Activity in advanced economies is expected to grow 2.2 per cent in 2018 before easing to a 2 per cent rate of expansion next year, as central banks gradually remove monetary stimulus, the June 2018 Global Economic Prospects says.
