The company expects that in conjunction with the strength displayed by its construction activity index, the economy will rebound by 0.8% in the first quarter after an unexpected 0.5% contraction at the end of 2010.
As a result, at the end of 2011 Thailand suffered its biggest quarterly contraction in GDP (9% year-on-year) since the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98.
The Office for Budgetary Responsibility cut its growth forecast for 2011 from 2.1% to 1.7% due to higher inflation and the surprise contraction in the economy at the end of last year.
Considering gold sold off during the latter part of last week and hit a six-month low on Friday, analysts with both Commerzbank and UBS pointed out that the next round of CFTC data is likely to show a further contraction in speculative gold net length, although that in turn ultimately could end up offering some support for the market.
He warned that the country could not escape the global slowdown, saying that the economy was likely to shrink for a few more quarters this year--marking the country's first economic contraction in nearly two decades--but a rebound may occur by year's end.