Thailand Q2 GDP better than forecast, full-year outlook downgraded
FILE PHOTO: People visit shopping center to celebrate New Year Eve during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bangkok, Thailand December 31, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun
BANGKOK: Thailand's economy grew at a faster than expected pace in the second quarter, helped by higher exports and government spending, official data showed on Monday (Aug 16), even as the country struggled with fresh coronavirus outbreaks and lockdown measures.
Southeast Asia's second-largest economy expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.4 per cent in the second quarter from the previous quarter, data from the National Economic and Social Development Council showed, versus a forecast 1.4 per cent drop in a Reuters poll.
From a year earlier, gross domestic product (GDP) grew 7.5 per cent in the June quarter, beating the 6.4 per cent rise forecast by economists, due largely to a GDP slump last year when the pandemic first hit.
The agency cut its GDP outlook for the full year to 0.7 to 1.2per cent from a previous forecast of 1.5 to 2.5 per cent growth.
