Thailand's economy will ride through mounting global economic uncertainties and expand at 3.5% this year, Finance Minister Sommai Phasee says.
The economy in 2015 will grow at a faster pace than last year's 0.7%, despite the deepening global economic slowdown taking a toll on exports, he said.
"Thailand is lucky this year. We managed to rise from the grave when the economy shrunk in the first half of 2014. The economy grew 0.7% in 2014 after the coup. Growth of 3.5% is certain and the rate is higher than last year's," Mr Sommai said.
He soothed jitters, saying the economy is facing a slowdown due to tepid exports, not deflation. The prices of major farm products such as rice and rubber have fallen sharply and discouraged banks from lending for fear of an increase in non-performing loans.
Malaysia, South Korea and China are also experiencing slowdowns, he said.
China's economic cooldown, with growth estimated at 6.7% this year and 6.3% next year compared with 7.4% last year, has dealt a blow to the global economy and Thailand, he said.
One percentage point of China's economy is more than the entire shipment of Thai products to China.
In the meantime, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) was more optimistic, predicting that Thai economic growth will come in at 3.9% to 4% this year, while effective macroeconomic management remains a crucial element in sustaining growth impetus.
Despite a broad-based slowdown of Thai exports, infrastructure spending, tourism recovery and benefits stemming from lower oil prices are deemed as factors driving Thailand's economic growth in 2015, said Shamshad Akhtar, the undersecretary-general and executive secretary of Escap.
"Thailand, like other oil-importing economies, has a good opportunity to be able to use some of the fiscal savings that can emerge out of a decline in oil prices and deploy that for social and economic development, so that domestic demand is stronger and can fill the void created by the export demand," she said.
"A smoother transition on the political side will also give a strong fillip to tourism, and Thailand has always been an attractive hub for tourism."
Ms Akhtar sees no risks of deflation in Thailand, while successive rate cuts made by the Bank of Thailand's Monetary Policy Committee are regarded as positive measures to stimulate the economy.
However, she insisted that prudential macroeconomic management and stringent loan supervision should be applied to the over-exposed lending sector.
Raising taxes as a means to support fiscal stimulus and tightened macro-prudential measures to regulate financial institutions' condition are suggested for Thailand's economic development, said Ms Akhtar.
"Consumer spending may benefit from the fiscal stimulus, but will remain constrained by high household debt. Large infrastructure projects are expected to begin and start making progress in 2015, although more delays in disbursement and implementation are possible," said Escap's Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2015.
Elections, tentatively scheduled for early 2016, could boost confidence in the economy, the report said.
Economic growth in Asia-Pacific's developing nations is expected to increase slightly to 5.9% in 2015 from last year's 5.8%, with no significant change expected in 2016, according to the report.