Thailand’s Central Bank Governor Says Country’s Economy has Recovered Strongly in First Quarter

BANGKOK – Thailand’s Central Bank Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob says the country’s economy has recovered strongly in the first quarter, but warned that low-income earners and farmers are still burdened with heavy household debts and need to closely monitor.

Mr Veerathai said that the national economy in the first quarter had experienced strong recovery as indicated by healthy growths in the export and tourism sector.

However, he told Thai PBS that rural economies are still fragile and will need to be closely monitored.

He assured that the government is not indifferent to the problem and has portioned  mid-year budget allocations to stimulate rural and grassroots level economies as well as expediting other budget allocations to the provinces.

The BOT governor also noted that farmers and low income earners are still burdened by heavy household debt.

He attributed the debt problem to drought and low agricultural produce prices which have held back rural economic recovery in many farming areas.