Thailand’s headline inflation edges downward for third successive month
Thailand’s headline inflation in November eased for the third consecutive month, but the consumer price index (CPI) was up year on year, data showed on Wednesday.
The director of Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO), Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, said Thailand’s consumer price index (CPI) in November stood at 107.92 points compared to 102.25 points in the same month last year, pushing headline inflation up to 5.55%.
But the rate of increase in headline inflation in November continued to drop for the third month. Headline inflation was 6.41% in September and 5.98% in October, the TPSO chief added.
He said the lower inflation was due to lower food prices, especially fresh vegetables and fruits, meat and food seasoning because their production had increased month on month.
Poonpong said Thailand’s headline inflation was better than several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Mexico, India, Laos, the Philippines and Singapore.
According to Poonpong, the price index of foods and non-alcoholic drinks rose by 8.40% in November, compared to a 9.58% increase in October because the prices of fresh vegetables dropped significantly.
Poonpong said the prices of other goods rose by 3.59% because of the rising prices of oil, electricity and cooking gas as well as cost of public transportation, while the prices of cleaning products such as detergents and softeners saw a slight increase.
He said core inflation, after deduction of price indices of fresh foods and energy, rose to 3.22%, compared to 3.17% in October.
He said the CPI this month dropped by 0.13 compared to October due to the drop in food prices.
Poonpong noted that the average CPI from January to November rose 6.10% year on year in line with the forecast of the Commerce Ministry.
He said the ministry expected headline inflation in December to be at a similar rate as this month and headline inflation for the year would be between 5.5% and 6.5%.
