BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s government will push for 3.5% economic growth this year and will seek to work closer with the central bank to support small businesses, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Tuesday.
Commercial banks are profitable but lending to small businesses remains low, Paetongtarn said, adding that boosting credit access for small and medium enterprises would help the economy.
The government would hold discussions with the central bank to address the issue, she said.
Paetongtarn’s comments come after Thailand’s fourth quarter gross domestic product growth missed forecasts, expanding 3.2%.
The figure was short of the 3.9% growth expected in a Reuters poll but was still the strongest annual rate in nine quarters.
“The economy grew in almost all dimensions in the fourth quarter, but private investment contracted,” Paetongtarn said, adding more investment was being encouraged.
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy has lagged regional peers as it struggles under high household debt and borrowing costs, and sluggish demand from China, which is also a key tourism market.
“The government’s (growth) forecast is 3.0%, we are pushing to 3.5%,” she said. “We can reach that goal and in the remaining months we will push.”
(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat, Thanadech Staporncharnchai, Orathai Sriring and Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by John Mair, Martin Petty)
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