Thailand’s economy contracted the most in more than two decades, deepening its recession, as the government imposed a nationwide lockdown and restricted travel to control the Covid-19 outbreak.
Gross domestic product shrank 12.2% from a year ago, the National Economic and Social Development Council said Monday. The decline, the biggest since the Asian financial crisis in 1998, wasn’t as bad as the median estimate of a 13% contraction in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Key Insights
- GDP fell a seasonally adjusted 9.7% in the second quarter compared with the previous three months, the council said, better than the median estimate of a 11.2% contraction in a Bloomberg survey
- The economic council cut its full-year forecast to a 7.3%-7.8% contraction, compared to an earlier estimate of a 5%-6% fall
- Apart from logistical problems and weak global demand, exports have been pressured by gains of more than 6% in the baht during the April-June quarter, making it Asia’s second-best performing currency.