BANGKOK: A group of Thai shippers said on Thursday it expected exports to contract 2 percent this year, rather than have a small rise as it had projected, due to tepid global demand and exchange rate volatility.
Britain’s decision to leave the European Union should have a short-term impact on Thai exports, the Thai National Shippers’ Council said in a statement. In March, the council projected exports would rise between zero and 2 percent in 2016.
Exports, worth about two-thirds of the Thai economy, shrank the past three years and have been a major drag on Southeast Asia’s second largest economy still struggling more than two years after the army took power to end political unrest.
Last week, the Bank of Thailand downgraded its 2016 export forecast to a fall of 2.5 percent from a 2 percent decline. But it maintained its economic growth estimate at 3.1 percent this year.
