BANGKOK, April 30 (Reuters) - Thailand recorded a current account surplus of $1.1 billion in March, after a surplus of $2 billion in the previous month, the central bank said on Tuesday.
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) added that volatility in the baht has decreased, but the currency could weaken further in the second quarter due to external factors and in line with regional peers.
Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy is expected to have clocked quarterly and annual growth of 1% in the first three months of this year, the BOT said.
March exports fell 10.2% year-on-year, while imports in the month were up 5.2% from the same period last year, it said.
Thailand's finance ministry on Monday revised down its growth forecast for this year to 2.4% from 2.8% seen in January, but said it could reach 3.3% if the government's 500 billion baht ($13.50 billion) stimulus plan was deployed in the fourth quarter as planned.
The ministry said the economy had seen weaker exports and manufacturing output but was still stable despite the downward revision, with growth likely to be driven by disbursement of a delayed but recently approved fiscal budget.
The economy expanded 1.9% last year, slower than expected and less than 2.5% growth in 2022, lagging other larger economies in the region.
(Reporting by Kitiphong Thaichareon, Satawasin Staporncharnchai and Chayut Setboonsarng; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Martin Petty)
