Thailand's economy may have contracted by 5-8 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday. "It may be worse than the previous fourth quarter. For this time round, it may be a contraction of five, six, seven or eight (percent). These are all possible," Abhisit during his weekly television address.
The economy shrank 4.3 percent in the October-December quarter, suffering from a slowdown in exports and tourism due to the global economic crisis. Abhisit said improving employment rates in March and April showed signs of a recovery in the second quarter, while the government's second round of economic stimulus measures, due to start from the third quarter, should also help.
"I also have a target for positive GDP growth in the fourth quarter," he said, adding tackling unemployment was among the government's key priorities. He said a strengthening baht against the dollar was still in line with other regional currencies. The baht was at 34.31 per dollar late on Friday.
The state planning agency was due to release first-quarter economic data on Monday at around 0230 GMT. Economists polled by Reuters forecast a median, seasonally-adjusted 1.6 percent contraction in gross domestic product in the first quarter, after a 6.1 percent plunge in the previous three months.
Compared with a year earlier, Thailand's economy was estimated to have shrunk 6.3 percent in the first quarter, the worst performance in a decade, after a 4.3 percent contraction in the final quarter of 2008, the poll showed.