Thai Aug headline CPI rises 0.52% y-o-y, below forecast

[BANGKOK] Thailand's annual headline consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.52 per cent in August from a year earlier, below a Reuters poll forecast of a 0.85 per cent increase and July's 0.98 per cent rise, commerce ministry data showed on Monday.

August headline inflation was the lowest level since January and stayed below the central bank's 1-4 per cent target range for a third straight month.

The annual core inflation rate was 0.49 per cent in August, compared with a forecast of 0.44 per cent and July's 0.41 per cent.

In January-August period, headline inflation was 0.87 per cent and core inflation was 0.55 per cent.

The ministry forecast 2019 headline inflation of between 0.8 to 0.9 per cent, compared with the Bank of Thailand's (BOT) estimate of 1.0 per cent.

Last month, the BOT unexpectedly cut its policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.50 per cent. It will next review policy on Sept 25.

REUTERS