Thailand’s headline inflation inches up in September

BANGKOK, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) — Thailand’s headline inflation growth inched up in September, mainly due to elevated diesel prices and rising vegetable prices as flooding affected agricultural areas, official data showed on Monday.
The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.61 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating from a four-month low of 0.35 percent increase in August, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The September inflation rate was below the Bank of Thailand’s target range of 1 percent-3 percent for the fourth straight month.
The core CPI, which excludes raw food and energy prices, increased 0.77 percent year on year in September, quickening from a 0.62 percent gain in the previous month and marking the highest growth in 13 months.
For the first nine months of 2024, the headline CPI rose 0.2 percent compared to the same period last year.
Headline inflation growth in the final quarter of the year is expected to accelerate from the previous three months, owing to a higher price ceiling for diesel, short-term effects from heavy rainfall and flooding leading to higher agricultural product prices, and increased airfares as the tourism sector enters its peak season, said Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, director general of the ministry’s trade policy and strategy office.
However, lower global crude oil prices and the appreciation of Thai baht currency, along with the government’s economic stimulus measures, are expected to help ease the inflation growth, Poonpong told a news conference.
The ministry revised its headline CPI projection for 2024 to 0.2 percent-0.8 percent, narrowing from 0 percent-1 percent expected earlier. ■