Thailand on path to economic recovery as unemployment figures fall
The Thai economy is showing signs of improvement with the gross domestic product rising 2.4 per cent year on year in the first half of 2022.
The latest National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) report explained that the country’s GDP contracted heavily by -6.2 per cent in 2020 due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures.
However, things began to improve in the second half of 2021, when most of the population was fully vaccinated and the global economy began picking up. This resulted in Thailand’s GDP expanding by 1.5 per cent in 2021, and the unemployment rate also dropping to 1.6 per cent in the last quarter of the year, compared to 1.9 per cent in the same period of 2020.
“The economy in the first half of 2022 maintained this improvement and saw an expansion of 2.3 per cent in the first quarter and 2.5 per cent in the second quarter, or an average of 2.4 per cent,” government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said on Friday citing NESDC’s report.
“The rate of unemployment at the end of the second quarter came in at 1.4 per cent, the lowest since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, signifying a recovery in the labour market.”
Anucha said government stimulus measures, like the “Let’s Go Halves” co-payment scheme and “We Travel Together” tourism scheme, have helped stimulate the economy.
The government also issued two loan decrees for 1.5 trillion baht to cover Covid-19 vaccines and treatment as well as to compensate those affected by the lockdown measures. This, Anucha said, has helped people get back on their feet faster and contributed to economic recovery.
