Anutin, Ekniti hopeful of higher growth despite GDP reaching 1.9% in Q2

PRIME Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said after the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) announced that second quarter GDP growth reached 1.9% while increasing annual projection from from 2% to 2.2% that they are not satisfied with these figures and are confident of better economic performance, TV Channel 7 said today (Aug. 18).

They pointed out that the government is on the right track after injecting 400 billion baht in borrowed funding into the economy which they believe will drive GDP growth much higher.

“The economy is currently ‘okay,’ but no matter how much it grows, there’s no such thing as being satisfied,” Anutin said.

“Right now, with these figures, we have to ask why the economy isn’t growing at 3%, why isn’t it growing at 4%, 5%, 6%, and so on? There’s no such thing as being satisfied.”

However he mentioned that he is satisfied with the Finance Minister’s performance.

Meanwhile, Ekniti said he was still not pleased with the economic figures for this year as projected by NESDC because there are areas that need further push, namely investment. This is because Thailand is currently in a transitional phase, so investment needs to be accelerated.

“The key to investment is that we can’t stop here; we must ensure that investment helps transform Thailand and creates jobs for Thai people within the supply chain,” he said.

Ekniti further explained that the 1.9% GDP growth in the second quarter is higher than the market’s forecast of around 1.7%, with this confirming that the government is on the right track in its decision to issue the Emergency Decree authorising the Finance Ministry to borrow 400 billion baht, with the objective of supporting the economy.

The “Thai Helps Thai Plus: 60:40” co-payment scheme played a significant role in preventing the economy from deteriorating further, helping to reduce the cost of living and increased public spending.

Furthermore, the GDP figure for the past quarter reflects and reinforces the fact that Thailand is facing three waves of crises that clearly affect the country with these being as follows:

– The energy crisis, resulting from the Iran war that caused oil and natural gas prices to skyrocket, leading to a current account deficit of US$17 billion baht in the second quarter, or approximately 600 billion baht.

– The cost-of-living crisis, evident in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the second quarter, which jumped from negative in the first quarter to 2.7%, while the Producer Price Index (PPI), which reflects costs, soared to almost 9%, representing higher costs for businesses.

– The purchasing power crisis, reflected in the slowdown in private consumption figures, from 3.3% in the first quarter to 1.9% in the second quarter. The “Thai Helps Thai Plus” scheme has helped to some extent.

“If we hadn’t acted quickly to resolve the three waves of the crisis, the impact would have been even worse. And today, we also need to quickly transition our energy sector because the war isn’t over yet.

“The large current account deficit reflects the extreme fragility of the Thai economy, particularly our dependence on oil and gas. If we don’t accelerate the transition, Thailand will become even more dependent and experience greater deficits,” he warned.

However, positive signs did emerge in the second quarter with double-digit investment growth of 13%, the highest and most continuous growth in 13 years. This is especially true for investment in the digital and AI industries. An example of successful investment by leading companies and increased exports include the expansion of investment in optical transceiver technology from China, specifically in Saraburi province, which will create 30,000 new jobs for Thais.

CAPTION:

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, right in above photo and left in Front Page photo, and Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas. Above image – PPTVHD36, Front Page – TNN