Bangkok, Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDB) revealed that the Thai economy in the first quarter was supported by domestic consumption and tourism, pushing the Thai GDP in the first quarter to grow by 1.5%, but keeping an eye on industrial production. The industry decreased and exports began to decline, causing the NESDB to reduce GDP for the whole year 2024 to only 2-3% growth from the previous 2.2-3.2%. Mr. Danucha Pitchayanan, Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDB), discussed the Thai economic situation in the first quarter of 2024 and the outlook for 2024 that although Thai GDP in the first quarter of 2024 expanded by 1.5%. Due to strong domestic consumption momentum and tourism continues to increase. But in the next period there are many factors. In particular, industrial production is likely to decline, including Thailand's export sector has begun to slow down, causing the NESDB to lower its forecast for Thailand' s gross domestic product or GDP in 2024, which is expected to expand by 2.0. - 3.0% from the original 2.2-3.2% with a median estimate of 2.5%, but still better than 2023 which grew only 1.9%, which has important supporting factors from Acceleration of government spending and investment Recovery of the tourism sector and related service sectors Favorable expansion of domestic demand for both consumption and investment. and the return to a slow expansion of merchandise exports following the recovery of world trade. Private consumption and investment expanded by 4.5% and 3.2%, respectively. Export value Goods in US dollar terms expanded by 2.0%. Inflation is expected to be in the range of 0.1 - 1.1% and the current account balance will be in surplus by 1.2%. As for the first quarter of 2024, it will expand at a high level of 1.5%, continuing from the 1.7% expansion in the 4th quarter of 2023. And when adjusting for seasonal results, the Thai economy in the first quarter of 2024 expanded from From the 4th quarte r of 2023, it was at 1.1% as a result of service exports and private consumption expanding at a high level. Private investment expanded at a good 6.9%, while merchandise exports Government consumption spending and public investment decreased. while on the production side The branches that expanded faster were accommodations and food services. Transportation and storage branches, electricity and gas branches, and information and communication branches Expansion accelerates As for the wholesale, retail and repair branches Continuously expanding Meanwhile, the fields of industrial product production, construction, and agriculture all decreased. However, Thailand still faces limitations on the recovery of merchandise exports and industrial production. Industrial production has decreased for 6 consecutive quarters, consistent with low production capacity. Especially in the industry group that is mainly focused on exports. This follows a decrease in the value and volume of merchandise exports of 1.0% and 2.3% fro m expansions of 4.6% and 3.2% in the previous quarter, etc. As for the 10,000 baht digital wallet top-up project, it has not yet been combined with economic estimates. If looking at the operating period in the 4th quarter, it is expected that the money will come from actual spending. 500 billion baht will not be issued at the same time in the 4th quarter because there is a period of 6 months to use it. If spending is started gradually in the 4th quarter but it is not 100% complete, it will help increase GDP by another 0.25% from The expected median value is 2.5% because there are still sources of money that still need to be processed in many parts. Source: Thai News Agency