The headline consumer price index (CPI) in January dropped a less than expected 0.34% from a year earlier, due to lower energy prices and a government utilities subsidy after a new coronavirous outbreak, the commerce ministry said on Friday.
The January reading, marking an 11th straight month of decline, compared with a forecast fall of 0.40% in a Reuters poll and December’s 0.27% dip.
The core CPI index rose 0.21% in January from a year earlier, compared with a forecast of a 0.20% rise. January’s CPI data was the first month that was calculated with a new base year.
However, the main CPI is expected to rise from the second quarter of the year, when the subsidy ends, ministry official Pimchanok Pitfield said at a media briefing.
“There are still factors weighing on inflation in the first quarter. But if the subsidy is not extended, inflation will rebound,” she…
