BANGKOK :Thailand’s annual inflation rate was negative for a third straight month in June, driven by lower energy and food prices, but the commerce ministry said on Monday there was no sign of deflation yet.
The consumer price index dropped 0.25 per cent in June from a year earlier, bigger than the 0.1 per cent decline forecast in a Reuters poll, and following a 0.57 per cent drop in the previous month.
It was the fourth month in a row that the inflation rate has been below the central bank’s target range of 1.0 per cent to 3.0 per cent.
Headline inflation in the third quarter is expected to remain negative before turning positive in the final quarter of the year, Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, head of the commerce ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office, told a press conference.
There were no signs of deflation because the price drop was driven by lower energy prices, he said.
The core CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food and energy prices, rose 1.06 per cent in June from a year earlier, compared with a forecast increase of 1.10 per cent.
In the first six months, annual headline inflation averaged 0.37 per cent, with core inflation at 0.97 per cent, the ministry said.
The ministry maintained its headline inflation forecast for 2025 at 0.0 per cent to 1.0 per cent.
Last month, the central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 1.75 per cent, seeking to save some policy ammunition if needed to support the economy amid trade uncertainty and renewed domestic political turbulence. The next rate meeting is on August 13.
