Thai October headline CPI rises 3.9% on year, highest level in nearly 4 years 

[BANGKOK] Thailand’s headline consumer price index rose 3.9 per cent in October from a year earlier, the highest monthly level in nearly four years, driven by higher oil, food and transport prices, the Commerce Ministry said on Friday (Nov 6).

The reading compared with a forecast rise of 3.24 per cent in a Reuters poll, and was the first time in nearly four years that headline inflation exceeded the central bank’s inflation target range of 1 to 3 per cent.

The core CPI, which excludes volatile energy and fresh food prices, rose 1.58 per cent in October from a year earlier.

Headline inflation in November was seen rising, the ministry said, adding that it was maintaining its full-year forecast of 1.8 per cent to 2.2 per cent.

Inflation is not too high, said Nantapong Chiralerspong, head of the ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office, adding that it was expected to remain stable for the rest of the year. REUTERS