prime minister thaksin shinawatra. the winning candidate, and their party will have to grapple with a slew of domestic issues including polarised politics and a slowing economy. for more on this, i spoke to syetarn hansakul of the economist intelligence unit, who told me thailand is slowly recovering from the pandemic. economic situation has improved from last year. it is in the middle of a cyclical rebound because coming out of the pandemic recession a bit later than others, but finally, after the country reopened in late 2022, the tourism sector, which has been a key part of the country s gdp, is recovering slowly. that is helping to improve jobs and income, and we are seeing the rebound unfolding. but having said that, there are plenty of structural issues that are hurting thailand s long term competitiveness, and that is something the new government will need to look into and correct. what is your outlook for growth this year in thailand and next? the economy will proba
i ll try to give you a fascinating snapshot of all the world of business and money. let s start here in the uk, where the economy in the first three months of this year recorded growth ofjust 0.1%. output in consumer facing services fell by 0.8% in march underscoring the impact of ongoing strikes and the cost of living crisis. hardly booming but a far cry from the record breaking recession that the bank of england was predicting six months ago. on thursday, the bank announced a major rethink of its forecasts saying the uk will now avoid going into recession. of course, talking about interest rates. the bank also raised its main interest rate again by a quarter of a percent to 4.5%. that s the 12th rate rise in a row and it puts the cost of borrowing here in the uk at a 15 year high. here s dr steve nolan, senior lecturer in economics at liverpool john moores university. good to see you. hardly the doom and gloom of the recession that was predicted, but let s be fr