Thailand to set new growth target, accelerate investment spending
FILE PHOTO: Thailand's newly appointed Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Pichai Chunhavajira looks on, on the day of the cabinet meeting at Thai Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, May 7, 2024. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/File Photo
BANGKOK : Thailand will accelerate its investment spending and set a new target for economic growth this year, the finance minister said on Monday, as the government seeks to kick start an economy that has lagged regional peers.
The government wants to see at least 70 per cent of the investment budget disbursed within the current fiscal year ending September, Pichai Chunhavajira said at a meeting of economic ministers to discuss stimulus measures.
About 38.6 per cent of investment budgets had been spent as of June 7, he added.
Pichai has said Thailand plans stimulus measures in the short term to jumpstart its economy, which is expected to grow just 2.5 per cent this year. He has said the economy should be expanding at least 3.5 per cent annually.
Southeast Asia's second-largest economy grew 1.5 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier, slowing from 1.7 per cent in the prior quarter.
