China's economic woes threaten struggling Thai exports: Arkhom

China's economy is expanding more slowly than many agencies had predicted, Arkhom noted. He added that despite the Fiscal Policy Office's forecast of a substantial number of Chinese tourist arrivals this year, the current situation remains constrained.

China was the largest overseas market for Thai tourism before the Covid crisis hit in 2020.
However, Thailand's 2023 target for foreign tourists has not been reduced.

"Tourism from China may slow down as expected, but we have not revised our overall target of 29.5 million tourists this year. This is due to the compensating factor of tourists coming from neighbouring countries and even from Europe, which is on an upward trend," the finance minister said.
The United States is also suffering impacts, and while US economic data has shown minor improvements recently, concerns about interest-rate rises persist, he added.

Commenting on this month's US credit rating downgrade from AAA to AA+, Arkhom said this could lead to increased costs for issuing bonds, or the means by which the US government borrows money.
While Thailand is still seen as economically stable, the US downgrade may impact the private sector and the bond market, he continued.

"The most stable aspect is government bonds, regardless of which government. As for corporate bonds, there is some risk depending on how the raised capital from the bonds is used. Currently, Thai private companies are issuing more corporate bonds, using the capital market more extensively, which is a trend in developing the Thai capital market," Arkhom stated.