Thai GDP growth cooling

BANGKOK: Thailand’s economic growth is expected to have cooled slightly in the second quarter, as public and private investment slowed, offsetting some of the boost from stronger exports and tourism.

Growth in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy has lagged its regional peers since the army seized power in 2014 to end months of political unrest. The junta has ramped up spending to try to boost domestic activity, but large infrastructure projects have been slow getting off the ground.

That has left growth largely reliant on exports, which have started to recover this year, at a time when U.S. trade protectionist rhetoric is on the rise, China’s economy is expected to slow and the baht is strengthening.

Economic growth was projected at 1.0 percent in the second quarter compared with the first on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the median of 11 economists polled by Reuters.

The economy had expanded 1.3 percent in the first quarter, the fastest rate in four years. Compared with a year earlier, growth was forecast to ease to 3.0 percent in the June quarter from 3.3 percent in the March quarter, according to 14 economists who gave on-year forecasts.