BANGKOK : Thailand’s annual headline inflation was weaker than expected in July, helped by lower food and energy prices, and the commerce ministry said on Monday it projected smaller consumer price rises for the rest of the year.
The headline consumer price index (CPI) increased 0.38 per cent in July from a year earlier, compared with a forecast rise of 0.64 per cent in a Reuters poll, and against June’s 0.23 per cent rise.
It was the third successive month headline inflation was below the central bank’s target range of 1 per cent to 3 per cent.
The headline CPI in August could rise slightly as some food prices pick up due to drought, while energy prices are likely to increase, Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, head of the ministry’s trade policy and strategy office, told a press conference.
Average headline inflation, however, should remain low at 0.36 per cent in the second half of 2023, he…
