Economic managers seek to contain long-term fallout of Covid-19 crisis

According to data on March 13, the total number of infected people worldwide exceeded 120,000, while the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the Covid-19 outbreak a global pandemic with cases confirmed in at least 110 countries.
The severity of the disease is not very high in terms of the death rate of about 2-3 per cent. However, this virus is easily transmitted and does not have any vaccine, causing people around the world to be under pressure. Outbreaks in major economies other than China, such as Italy, the US and South Korea, have brought gloom for the global economy this year.
Recently, IHS Markit, a financial information services provider, said it would cut economic growth forecast this year to 1.7 per cent from the previous forecast in February of 2.5 per cent due to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, while several economists said the global economy may go into recession.
Kobsak Pootrakool, deputy secretary-general to the Prime Minister for Political Affairs, as secretary of the economic cabinet said that Covid-19 had impacted the economy at large.
“In the first phase, the impact on the Thai economy was limited only to tourism,” he said. “However as the outbreak prolonged and became more severe, it affected services and production in the supply chain due to lockdown by countries, including businesses related to tourism and logistics.”
A Ministry of Finance report has proposed to the Cabinet the need for economic stimulus measures, stating that the Covid-19 outbreak affected the Thai economy through decline in foreign tourists, impacting liquidity and employment in the tourism industry and related businesses.
Meanwhile, disrupted production in China and other countries has affected Thailand's production and transportation supply chain, including exports.
Covid-19 has affected various sectors of the economy more than expected and a clear plan is needed to tackle the effects of the outbreak in the long term, experts said. The economic cabinet expected that the outbreak would last between six months to one year before recovery.
Executives from many large organisations foresee the spread of the virus as lasting about one year.
While the world is at risk and many countries are facing an increasing crisis, it is important to create confidence among people and businesses by communicating and solving problems in the same direction, as well as issuing measures to support the economy, experts said.