Thai consumer prices fall for first time in over 2 years on govt measures (updated)

CPI SA

06/11/2023 03:45

* 
      Oct headline CPI -0.31% y/y vs 0.0% in Reuters poll
    

        * 
      Oct core CPI +0.66% y/y vs +0.59% in poll
    

        * 
      Headline CPI seen falling slightly in November y/y -
ministry
    

  
 (Adds details, official's comment from paragraph 3)
       BANGKOK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Thailand's annual headline
consumer price index (CPI) in October declined for the first
time in more than two years, thanks to falling energy and goods
prices due to government support measures, the commerce ministry
said on Monday.
    The headline CPI  THCPI=ECI  fell 0.31% in October from a
year earlier, the first annual drop since August 2021. That
compared with a forecast 0.0% in a Reuters poll, and versus a
0.3% year-on-year rise in the previous month.
    It was the sixth successive monthly headline inflation
indicator that was below the central bank's target range of 1%
to 3%.
    The headline CPI in November could fall slightly from a year
earlier due to government measures to reduce the cost of living,
and a high comparative base in 2022, Poonpong Naiyanapakorn,
head of the ministry's trade policy and strategy office, told a
news conference.
    Falling consumer prices, however, should not lead to
deflation as the economy is still growing, he said, adding the
ministry still forecast headline inflation at 1.0% to 1.7% in
2023.
    In October, the core CPI  THCPIX=ECI  was up 0.66%
year-on-year, compared with a forecast 0.59% rise in the poll,
and against September's 0.63% increase.
    In the January-October period, the headline CPI rose an
average 1.60% year-on-year, with the core CPI up 1.41%.
    In September, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) unexpectedly raised
the key interest rate  THCBIR=ECI  by a quarter point to 2.50%,
the highest in a decade, saying growth and inflation should pick
up next year. It will next review policy on Nov. 29.
    Last month, BOT Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said the
current policy rate remained appropriate for the economy but the
BOT was ready to adjust it if needed.    

 (Reporting by Orathai Sriring; Kitiphong Thaichareon, and
Satawasin Staporncharnchai; Writing by Chayut Setboonsarng;
Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Miral Fahmy)
 ((orathai.sriring@tr.com;))