The Thai economic recovery this year is expected to be "low growth", says Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith.
In a keynote address at a conference on the future of capital markets held by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Mr Arkhom said the global economy has begun to improve, but the recovery will be weak and uneven, according to the latest economic outlook by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development earlier this month.
Developed economies will have a lower growth rate than last year, while Asian economies will have higher growth than last year, he said.
Thai exports are likely to contract this year, said Mr Arkhom.
However, the value of shipments may be positive compared with last year because of baht appreciation.
As a side event of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) meeting, the conference aims to determine measures to build sound, fair and efficient global capital markets to enhance investor protection.
Apart from primary futures market and securities regulators, IOSCO also regulates and supervises emerging markets, namely crypto asset markets.
As of April 2023, the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) estimated the Thai economy will expand by 3.6% this year, exceeding 2.6% the previous year.
Thai exports are expected to contract by 0.5% this year, compared with growth of 5.5% last year, attributed to the global economic slowdown, according to the FPO.
The baht is likely to recover and strengthen to 33.2 to the US dollar by the end of this year, compared with 35.1 last year, said the office.
