The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) has lowered its export growth forecast for the year and expressed concern about the slow pace of promised government investment.
JSCCIB chairman Supant Mongkolsuthee said on Tuesday the committee revised its export growth projection from 3.5% down to 2-2.5% this year, because the baht's strength was weakening the competitiveness of Thai products, and the economies of important trading partners like the European Union nations, Japan and China had still not fully recovered.
He urged the government to quickly stimulate the local economy, expressing concern that only 13% of the government's investment budget for fiscal 2015 had been disbursed as of January. The fiscal year started on Oct 1.
The disbursements amounted to only about 50 billion baht, well short of the 120-billion-baht government investment in the same period of the previous fiscal year, Mr Supant said.
Based on the current trend, in the first half of fiscal 2015 the government might disburse less than 30% of its investment budget allocated for the fiscal year, he said.
Even so, the JSCCIB still predicts the Thai economy will expand by 3.5% this year.