Thailand’s consumer inflation hits 13-year high on fuel, food cost

Date:

Thailand’s consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, surged 5.28 percent year-on-year in February, the fastest pace since September 2008, driven by higher energy and fresh food prices, data showed on Friday.

The pace of growth accelerated from a rise of 3.23 percent registered in January.

On a monthly basis, the CPI rose 1.06 percent from the previous month. The core CPI, which excludes raw food and energy prices, climbed 1.8 percent year-on-year in February, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The ministry attributed the fast inflation rise to higher energy prices, which soared 29.22 percent year-on-year last month, adding that the rise had spillover effects on other prices both directly and indirectly. Food prices also rose significantly in most categories, particularly meats and vegetables.

For the January-February period, the CPI grew 4.25 percent from one year earlier.

The ministry expected consumer inflation to rise further in March due to a higher level of energy prices.

Continuously rising inflation is expected to put the country’s central bank into a dilemma as the Bank of Thailand has kept the key policy rate at a record low level of 0.5 percent since May 2020, to support the pandemic-hit economy, analysts said.

Thailand’s Krungsri Research, a think tank, raised its forecast for the average inflation in 2022 to 2.7 percent from its earlier prediction of 2 percent

Editorial Staff
Editorial Staffhttps://locality.guide
Provider of news and content to Heaven is Hua Hin

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

spot_imgspot_img

Popular

More like this
Related

Indonesia seizes stateless ship with nearly 2 tonnes of drugs

On 13 May 2025, the Indonesian Navy intercepted and...

Land expropriation begins for Phase 2 high-speed rail

Thailand is moving ahead with Phase 2 of its...

US Scholar Remains in Thailand Despite Charges Dropped

US Scholar Still Barred from Leaving Thailand Despite Dropped...

Thai Airways Prepares for Market Return After Restructuring

Thai Airways International is moving closer to resuming trading...