BANGKOK– Thailand’s consumer inflation growth slowed for the second straight month in Oct, as energy and food prices continued to fall, data showed yesterday.
The country’s consumer price index (CPI), a key indicator of inflation, rose 5.98 percent, year on year, last month, down from a 6.41 percent increase in Sept, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The core CPI, which excludes raw food and energy prices, edged up 3.17 percent in Oct, compared to an increase of 3.12 percent in the previous month.
In the first 10 months, the country’s CPI rose 6.15 percent from a year earlier, far above the central bank’s target range of one percent to three percent, for headline inflation.
This month, inflation would slow, due to lower consumer product prices, while other prices remained stable, despite rising costs, aided by government measures to reduce the cost of living and to relieve the flood, the commerce ministry said in a statement.
It added that, high energy prices, a weak Thai baht, and increased domestic demand, could be risk factors that limited the inflation rate decline.
The headline inflation rate this year is projected to range between 5.5 percent and 6.5 percent, the ministry said.
Source: Nam News Network