Thai economy signals recovery on stimulus, local demand

BANGKOK, Feb 15 (Bloomberg): Thailand’s economy continued to climb back from the pandemic blow in the final quarter of 2020, supported by government stimulus and local demand, though full-year performance was the worst since the Asian financial crisis more than two decades ago.

Gross domestic product shrank 4.2% from a year ago, the National Economic and Social Development Council said Monday, improving from the prior quarter’s 6.4% contraction and better than the median estimate of -5.4% in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Compared to the previous three months GDP rose a seasonally adjusted 1.3%, better than the median estimate of 0.8% in a Bloomberg survey.