Current account blowout on oil, tourism risks

Income generator: This aerial picture shows tourists entering Pi Leh Bay on Thailand’s Phi Phi Leh island in longtail boats. The pandemic has robbed the country of tens of billions of dollars it used to earn annually from millions of foreign tourists. — AFP

BANGKOK: Thailand is heading for a rare back-to-back current-account deficit as the outlook for tourist arrivals becomes less rosy with a flare-up in Covid cases globally and energy import bills ballooning amid soaring oil prices.

The net-oil importer may post a shortfall of US$4.6bil (RM19.4bil) this year, according to Bank of Ayudhya Pcl, which previously estimated a surplus of US$5.8bil (RM24bil) in the current account – the broadest measure of trade and investment.