Tsunami to slash 0.3 percent off Thai GDP: central bank

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2005

BANGKOK (AFP) — The central Bank of Thailand has lowered its 2005 economic growth projection by 0.3 percent to 5.25-6.25 percent due to effects of the tsunami disaster, it said in a statement.

The giant waves slammed six Thai provinces along the Andaman coast, killing some 5,400 people and devastating the tourism and fisheries industries there.

The bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said the Thai economy in 2004 will have expanded at about 6.2 percent.

"For 2005, without the tsunami disaster, the aforementioned assumptions would increase the GDP projection by 0.2 per cent compared to the previous projection," assistant bank governor Atchana Waiquamdee said in a statement posted on the bank's website.

"The tsunami disaster however, was expected to...