BANGKOK, Sept. 16, (Xinhuanet) -- Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra Tuesday demonstrated his growing confidence in the Thai economy by raising next year's 8 percent growth target to an even more ambitious 9 percent.

　　Thai News Agency quoted the Government Spokesman Sita Divari assaying that the prime minister had set the new target after Chakramon Phasukavanich, Secretary-General of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) reported on second quarter economic growth to the cabinet.

　　The NESDB secretary-general noted that second quarter growth had fallen to 5.8 percent, compared to 6.7 percent growth in the first quarter.

　　However, this still put growth for the first half of the year at 6.2 percent, with growth for the entire year expected to stand at 6 percent.

　　Sita quoted Chakramon as predicting economic growth for next year of 6.5-8.5 percent, while noting that the higher rate would only be achievable if the government was able to raise export earnings from 6.25 billion to 7.22 billion US dollars per month.

　　After receiving this data Thaksin had set the new 9 percent target, saying that he would encourage domestic spending, while stressing the importance of ensuring that consumer spending did not rise too high.

　　At the same time, he said that he would make efforts to instilla sense of patriotism in Thai products among the public in order to reduce expensive imports. Enditem