Thailand
Thailand: Consumer prices inch higher, led by produce
Overall consumer prices edged up in July, driven by fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh food, pork, milled rice and milled glutinous rice.
The Commerce Ministry reported yesterday the consumer price index (CPI), which gauges headline inflation, rose by 0.98% last month from July 2018, following a 0.87% year-on-year rise in June, 1.15% in May, 1.23% in April and 1.24% in March. The uptick was 0.73% in February and 0.27% in January.
The higher prices were mainly due to a 3.5% rise in food and non-alcoholic drink prices, led by vegetables and fruit, whose prices rose 20%.
Fruit prices were up 9.2%, while the prices of meats, poultry and fish rose 5.7%. Prices of rice, flour and flour products climbed 4% as rice stockpiles dwindled amid rising demand.
On a month-to-month basis, overall prices rose 0.06% in July after falling 0.36% in June.
Of the 422 product and service items used to gauge inflation, the prices of 234 items (including lemons, pork, chillies, milled rice and electricity) rose from June. Prices fell for 102 items (including motor fuel, cooking oil and shampoo), while the rest saw no price changes.
Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.41% year-on-year in July and 0.03% from June.
Headline inflation in July was below the central bank’s 1-4% target range for a second straight month.
For the first seven months of the year, headline inflation averaged 0.92%. Core inflation averaged 0.55%.
Pimchanok Vonkorpon, director-general of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office under the Commerce Ministry, said overall prices in July rose despite a sharp drop in energy prices, which fell 5.4% from the same month last year.
The ministry last month cut its annual inflation forecast to a range of 0.7-1.3% this year from 0.7-1.7% on lower energy prices, a stronger baht and dim export prospects.
Ms Pimchanok said the ministry is maintaining its inflation view, as there are no signs of a domestic economic recovery and prices for building materials such as cement and steel are down because of delays in the government’s infrastructure projects.
Thanavath Phonvichai, vice-president for research at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said relatively low core inflation in the first seven months reflected overall weak purchasing power amid declining exports, low farm prices, drought conditions and the global economic slowdown.
“It is now time for the central bank to think twice about its policy rate to stimulate the domestic economy,” he said.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1722983/consumer-prices-inch-higher-led-by-produce