[BANGKOK] Thailand’s headline consumer price index fell for a fifth straight month in August, on weaker energy and fresh food prices, and the commerce ministry said on Thursday (Sep 4) the index is expected to fall further this year.
The consumer price index dropped 0.79 per cent in August from a year earlier, more than the 0.70 per cent fall forecast in a Reuters poll and a 0.70 per cent decrease in the previous month.
It was the sixth consecutive month that the inflation rate has been below the central bank’s target range of 1.0 per cent to 3.0 per cent.
The headline CPI is expected to fall by 0.66 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter and by 0.24 per cent in the final quarter of 2025, Natiya Suchinda, deputy head of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office, told a press conference.
The full-year inflation rate could be negative, she said, as the rate averaged just 0.08 per cent in the first eight months of 2025. The ministry will review its current 2025 forecast for 0 per cent to 1 per cent.
“If asked whether it’s deflation, the answer is not yet, as it has been more driven by supply rather than demand,” she said.
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Despite the run of negative headline CPI readings, core consumer prices have still increased.
The core CPI, which excludes volatile energy and fresh food prices, rose 0.81 per cent in August from a year earlier, compared with a forecast increase of 0.75 per cent and a 0.84 per cent rise in the previous month.
In the January-August period, annual core inflation averaged 0.94 per cent, the ministry said.
Last month, the central bank cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to a near three-year low of 1.50 per cent to support a slowing economy. The next rate meeting is on October 8, when some economists expect a further reduction. REUTERS
