Thailand’s economic outlook ‘still strong’ despite Covid-19

“Moody’s noted that Thailand has low short-term debt of only 8 per cent, with an extremely low baht-to-foreign currency debt of less than 2 per cent, which contributed to the low inflation rate,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Ministry reported that the value of exports from January to July rose 16.2 per cent year on year, spurring a $2.6 billion trade surplus for Thailand, Rathchada added.

“According to the Board of Investment of Thailand [BOI], in the first half of 2021 over 800 projects have been granted privileges with total investment value of Bt386 billion, up 158 per cent on the same period last year,” she said. “The top three countries granted investment privileges are Japan, United States and China.”

To attract foreign investors and promote technology transfer, the BOI is granting tax breaks at 100 to 200 per cent of investment value to companies that invest in education, research and development, innovations, science and high-technology, product and packaging design.

“Moody’s estimates that after the Covid-19 situation is resolved, foreign investment in Thailand will continue to grow, especially in the Eastern Economic Corridor, which will help boost domestic employment as well as consumption demand and ultimately increase the country’s competitiveness in the global market,” added Ratchada.