Thailand to review CPI seen misaligned with household costs

[BANGKOK] Thailand plans to review its inflation basket, as the country’s central bank observed that the persistently low figures do not reflect elevated costs of living.

The plan emerged on Monday (Jan 5) from the minutes of the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT’s) last policy decision.

The monetary policy committee said that the prices in several categories – including residential rents, cars and telecommunication services – showed “persistent rigidity” and “did not fully align with the elevated cost of living faced by households”.

It added that discussions with relevant agencies were under way, and that improvements are planned in both data inputs and the calculation methodology. It did not provide a timeline.

The commerce ministry updates its inflation calculations every four to five years, it said on its website. 

The review comes as the nation’s consumer prices have remained in negative territory since April, largely due to supply-side factors.

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Longer term, the BOT has struggled to keep inflation within its 1 to 3 per cent target range for most of the past decade. In December, the Cabinet approved to keep the target unchanged for this year. BLOOMBERG