XINHUA – Thailand’s headline inflation growth quickened in October but remained below the central bank’s target, mainly driven by rising food and energy prices, official data showed yesterday.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.83 per cent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from a 0.61-per-cent increase in September, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The October inflation rate was below the Bank of Thailand’s target range of one to three per cent for the fifth successive month.
The core CPI, which excludes raw food and energy prices, increased 0.77 per cent year-on-year in October, unchanged from the previous month and remaining at its highest reading since August 2023.
For the first 10 months of 2024, the headline CPI rose 0.26 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Headline inflation growth is expected to quicken further in November due to a higher price ceiling for diesel and increased household electricity prices as government measures for energy costs have been reduced, said Director General Poonpong Naiyanapakorn of the Ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office.
However, stabilised fresh vegetable prices as short-term effects from flooding and intense rains have subsided in some areas, along with marketing campaigns by major wholesalers and retailers, are expected to slow the rate of inflation, Poonpong told a news conference.
