On February 25, 2022, Mr. Wuttipong Jittangsakul, the Fiscal Policy Advisor of the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) disclosed the financial situation for January 2022, according to which the Thai economy was supported by private investments and improvement in the tourism sector.
More than 133,000 foreigners have arrived in Thailand, most of them are tourists from Russia, Germany, Great Britain, France and the United States, as well as domestic travelers.
Private consumption slowed down compared to the previous month due to concerns about the new strain of COVID-19. In terms of economic indicators for personal consumption, there were signs of growth compared to the same period last year, but they slowed down compared to the previous month. According to VAT taxation with the fixed price level in January 2022, it increased by 17.4% compared to the same period last year, but decreased compared to the previous month.
Meanwhile, the real estate deal’s tax increased by 3.9%, but decreased from the previous month after the seasonal effect of -2.4% was eliminated. There were signs of improvement compared to the same period last year.
In this regard, economic stability remained strong despite the pressure from high product prices. This was reflected in the overall inflation rate at 3.23% in January 2022, while the core inflation rate was 0.52%. The public debt ratio was 59.6% of GDP at the end of December 2021. This is still within the fiscal discipline established by the 2018 Tax Discipline Law.