BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand’s new Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Thursday he would look to build confidence in his country’s economy following an outlook revision by ratings agency Fitch a day earlier.
“The outlook downgrade stems from past factors,” Anutin told reporters after a meeting with the Federation of Thai Capital Market Organisations.
“Now we are aware of this and will work to build confidence so that they will revise it upward.”
Fitch on Wednesday revised Thailand’s outlook to “negative” from “stable”, citing increasing risks to its public finances amid ongoing political uncertainty.
Fitch’s negative outlook does not mean an imminent crisis, but it is a warning signal that if Thailand does not present a clear fiscal plan, confidence will be hit, Deputy Finance Minister Vorapak Tanyawong said on his Facebook page.
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy is projected to expand by 1.8% to 2.3% this year, according to the state planning agency, with a slowdown expected in the second half of 2025 due to the impact of U.S. tariffs.
Thailand’s economy grew by 2.5% last year, lagging regional peers.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Thanadech Staporncharnchai and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by David Stanway)
