BANGKOK- Thailand’s headline consumer price index (CPI) rose by a less-than-expected 5.55 percent in November from a year earlier, the slowest pace in seven months, helped by lower food prices, government data showed on Wednesday.
The index, which slowed for a third straight month, compared with a forecast for a 5.86 percent rise in November in a Reuters poll and followed October’s 5.98 percent increase.
The pace, however, is still far above the central bank’s target range of 1 percent to 3 percent, reinforcing expectations that the central bank will continue to gradually raise interest rates to bring prices back within target.
The headline CPI in December is expected to rise at a similar pace to the November reading, senior commerce ministry official Poonpong Naiyanapakorn told a briefing.
Average headline inflation is still expected at 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent for the whole of 2022 and should fall to 2 percent to 3 percent in 2023 due to a base effect and a global recession risk, he said.
The core CPI index in November was up 3.22 percent from a year ago, versus a forecast rise of 3.20 percent, and following October’s 3.17 percent, the ministry said.
hailand’s central bank raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points for a third straight meeting on Wednesday, as it tries to contain above-target inflation while supporting an economic recovery facing increasing global headwinds.
The Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) monetary policy committee voted unanimously to raise the one-day repurchase rate to 1.25 percent, as widely expected in a Reuters poll.
The BOT trimmed its growth forecasts for this year and next, pointing to downside risks to the global outlook, but expected the strength in the tourism sector to lessen the impact of any global slowdown. It raised its inflation forecast for 2023, even as it expected inflation to return to within target next year.
