Thai CPI rises at slowest pace in 7 months in December

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Thai CPI rises at slowest pace in 7 months in December

BANGKOK: Thailand's headline consumer price index rose by 5.55 per cent from a year earlier, the slowest pace in seven months, helped by lower food prices, government data showed on Wednesday.

The index was slowed for a third consecutive month, compared with a forecast for a 5.86 per cent rise in November in a Reuters poll and followed October's 5.98 per cent increase.

The central bank expects that interest rates will be raised gradually to bring prices back within target, as the pace is still higher than the central bank's target range of 1 per cent to 3 per cent.

Senior Commerce Ministry official Poonpong Naiyanapakorn said that the headline CPI in December is expected to rise at a similar pace to the November reading.

He said that the average headline inflation is expected to fall to 5.5 per cent to 6.5 per cent for the whole of 2022 and should fall to 2 per cent to 3 per cent in 2023 due to a base effect and a global recession risk.

The core CPI index increased by 3.22 per cent in November from a year ago, compared to a forecast rise of 3.20 per cent and following October's 3.17 per cent, the ministry said.