Thailand’s June CPI Up 2.4%, Comes In Below Expectations

Thailand’s headline consumer price index rose by 2.42 per cent in June from a year earlier, following an annual rise of 2.79 per cent the previous month, the commerce ministry said on Monday. • The reading compared with a forecast increase of 2.79 per cent in a Reuters poll, and was inside the central bank’s target inflation range of 1 per cent to 3 per cent. • The core CPI, which excludes volatile energy and fresh food prices, rose 1.23 per cent in June compared to a year earlier. • The ministry maintained its full-year inflation forecast of 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent this year. • The CPI was seen rising further, Natiya Suchinda, deputy head of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office, told a media briefing. • Headline inflation was seen at 2.79 per cent in the third quarter and 3.02 per cent in the fourth quarter, the commerce ministry said.