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Thai central bank lowers 2016 growth projection to 3.5 pct

Xinhua, December 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) said Wednesday that it had revised down the growth projection for 2016 to 3.5 percent from the September assessment at 3.7 percent.

The revision was made because "a projected increase in private consumption and public expenditure could not compensate for a downward revision of export growth due to a slower-than-expected economic recovery of Thailand's major trading partners," the BOT said in a statement.

In addition, both the upside and downside risks around the baseline projection increased, according to the bank.

The key downside risk was "an even slower recovery of Thailand's major trading partners," it said, adding the key upside risk was the "faster-than-expected expansion in public investment," which might additionally crowd in more private investment than currently assessed.

Nonetheless, it assessed, overall risks to growth remained skewed to the downside.

The BOT also slightly raised its growth forecast for 2015 to 2.8 percent from the September assessment at 2.7 percent.

Headline inflation projection for 2016 was revised down to 0.8 percent owing to lower cost pressure, while the projection for 2015 remained unchanged at -0.9 percent.

The projections of core inflation for 2015 and 2016 were revised up slightly to 1.1 and 0.9 percent, respectively, the bank said. Endit