The Bank of Thailand estimates that the country’s economy grew by just 1% in the first quarter on both a quarterly and annualised basis.
The central bank made the comment on Tuesday when it released its latest economic update.
The economy slowed in March as domestic demand and tourism softened after expanding well in the preceding periods, and partly because the benefits from the Easy E-Receipt campaign dissipated, the central bank said.
“Despite this slowdown, the economy showed signs of improvement in the first quarter compared to the previous one,” it added. “But overall growth was likely to remain low on a year-on-year basis.”
The country recorded a current account surplus of $1.1 billion in March, down from $2 billion in the previous month, it said.
Volatility in the baht has decreased, it added, but the currency could weaken further in the second quarter due to external factors and in line with regional peers.
March exports fell 10.2% year-on-year, while imports in the month were up 5.2% from the same period last year, it said.
The Ministry of Finance on Monday revised down its growth forecast for this year to 2.4% from 2.8% predicted in January. But it said it could reach 3.3% if the government’s 500-billion-baht digital wallet stimulus plan goes ahead in the fourth quarter as planned.
Official growth figures will be announced by the National Economic and Social Development Council around mid-May.
The ministry said the economy had seen weaker exports and manufacturing output but was still stable despite the downward revision, with growth likely to be driven by disbursement of a delayed but recently approved fiscal budget.
The economy expanded 1.9% last year, slower than expected and less than 2.5% growth in 2022, lagging other larger economies in the region.