World Bank cuts Thai GDP growth outlook to 2.2% this year

FILE PHOTO: A health worker receives the Sinovac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at the Samut Sakhon hospital in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand, February 28, 2021. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

BANGKOK:Thailand's economy is forecast to grow 2.2% this year, down from the 3.4% projected earlier, due to the impact of a third wave of COVID-19 infections and weak tourism, the World Bank said on Thursday, as the country battles its biggest outbreak yet.

Thailand's tourism-reliant economy contracted 6.1% last year, its deepest slump in over two decades, with the tourism sector devastated by the impact of the pandemic.