The central bank has trimmed its 2015 growth projection to 3% from 3.8% on weak exports but revised up its 2016 forecast to 4.1% from 3.9%.
The Monetary Policy Committee made the decisions at its meeting on Friday, said Mathee Supapongse, assistant governor of the Bank of Thailand and Secretary of the Monetary Policy Committee.
The downward revision of the growth forecast this year was due to weaker-than-expected export growth while inflation is projected to decrease on the back of lower cost and demand pressure, he said.
Private spending will likely recover more slowly than previously expected but public spending is projected to be higher while export of services is expected to expand more than the previous forecast from increasing number of tourists, he said.
"Higher-than-expected public spending and exports of services however could not compensate for the weaker-than-expected merchandise export performance and private spending," he said.
The MPC also revised down the projection of headline and core inflation in 2015 and 2016 to -0.5% and 1.6% respectively (see chart).
The downside risks come from the possibilities of slow economic recovery and lower global oil prices, he said.
