BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s headline consumer price index (CPI) declined for the first time in more than two years, thanks to falling energy prices due to government support measures and lower food prices, the commerce ministry said on Monday.
The headline CPI fell 0.31% in October from a year earlier, the first drop since August 2021. That compared with a forecast 0.0% in a Reuters poll, and versus a 0.3% year-on-year rise in the previous month.
The core CPI was up 0.66% year-on-year in October.
Headline inflation has been below the central bank’s target of 1% to 3% for the sixth consecutive month.
In the January-October period, the headline CPI rose an average 1.60% from the same period a year earlier, with the core CPI up 1.41%.
The ministry still sees headline inflation at 1.0% to 1.7% this year.
In September, the Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy committee unexpectedly raised the key interest rate by a quarter point to 2.50%, the highest in a decade, saying growth and inflation should pick up next year. It will next review policy on Nov. 29.
(This story has been corrected to clarify that CPI, not inflation rate, fell for the first time in more than 2 years in the headline and paragraph 1)
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