BANGKOK – Thailand’s headline inflation dropped to its lowest in 16 months in April, coming in close to expectations owing to lower energy and food prices and a high base in 2022, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday.
The headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.67 percent in April from a year earlier, compared with a forecast rise of 2.70 percent in a Reuters poll, and against March’s 2.83 percent increase.
The core CPI index was up 1.66 percent in April from a year ago and under a forecast increase of 1.70 percent.
Headline inflation returned to the central bank’s target range of 1 percent to 3 percent for the second month in a row. The commerce ministry on Wednesday said headline inflation should fall sharply in May.
In March, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) raised its policy interest rate by a quarter point to 1.75 percent, and said its policy tightening would continue since inflation risks persisted.
It will next review policy on May 31, when economists expect a further hike.
Last month, the commerce ministry cut its forecast for headline inflation to between 1.7 percent and 2.7 percent this year, from a previous forecast of 2 percent to 3 percent.
In January-April, headline inflation was 3.58 percent, with the core rate at 2.09 percent, the ministry said on Wednesday.
Thailand’s economy slowed down in March compared with the previous month, as exports declined but the service sector continued to improve from higher foreign tourist numbers, the central bank said.
Economic activity is expected to have improved in April and exports should gradually pick up, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) said in a statement.
“We expect the global economy and our trading partners’ economies to gradually improve in the second half, and exports will do so,” Assistant Governor Chayawadee Chai-Anant told a news conference.
Exports, a key driver of growth, may have bottomed out, she added. March’s exports dropped 5.8 percent year-on-year.
In the first quarter, the economy continued to improve from the previous period, mainly due to the tourism sector which bolstered services and private consumption, the BOT said. – Reuters
