Thailand: April inflation hits 2.45%, with gradual price rises forecast for rest of year

[webfact]

INFLATION
April inflation hits 2.45%, with gradual price rises forecast for rest of year
Petchanet Pratruangkrai
The Nation


Shopper bought discount rice pack at the convenience store at the period of the country's inflation rising.

BANGKOK: -- The Consumer Price Index is projected to increase gradually for the rest of the year on concern over drought causing a lower supply of fresh food and livestock, as well as the rising cost of fuel and electricity amid the depreciation of the baht.

The Commerce Ministry yesterday reported that goods prices are expected to rise in the following months on higher cost of raw materials. However, the CPI will be controlled by the ministry.

The CPI last month was 2.45 per cent above April of last year. It was the biggest increase in 13 months, since March 2013.

Month on month, inflation was 0.5 per cent.

Inflation for the first four months was 2.2 per cent year on year.

"Goods prices are expected to rise in the following months as the drought could cause higher production costs, while an increase

of the Ft electricity charge will also push up the cost of production.

"But prices should not go up much as consumers and the private sector are concerned about economic growth amid the political uncertainty," Amparwan Pichalai, adviser to the ministry and

director of the Trade Policy and Strategy Bureau, said yesterday.

The ministry projects inflation this quarter at 2.4 per cent, resulting in inflation of 2.2 per cent in the first half.

This will ensure that inflation will be manageable at 2-2.8 per cent this year.

The spurt in inflation last month was due mainly to food and fuel. The cost of food and beverages shot up a stark 4.61 per cent, while the non-food and beverage sector increased only 1.33 per cent year on year.

Of the 417 consumer goods in the inflation basket, its survey found that the retail prices for 196 products had remained steady, for 63 products had decreased and for 191 products had increased last month.

In April, core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, advanced 1.66 per cent on year and 0.40 per cent from March.

In the first four months, core inflation was measured at 1.31 per cent - well within the Bank of Thailand's annual policy target range of 0.5-3 per cent.


-- The Nation 2014-05-02

[Ricardo]

This wicked inflation is clearly all the fault of Suthep, and his thuggish fascists, since the saintly Isaan-Darling says that it doesn't exist !

[antimedia]

Then who and what is keeping the baht propped up. I would have thought that if tourism is a much needed income grabber and it is slowing, offering a far better exchange rate would be an advantage, especially as exports are turning to <deleted>. A push by the intelligently led TAT is needed.

[Thai at Heart]

Will they dare to put up interest rates.

This is rock and a hard place time. GDP is slowing but inflation is rising. Effects of minimum wage increase?

[chiang mai]

OK, so QE doesn't cause inflation, <deleted>, I mean really!

[bigbamboo]

Obviously the wise and beautiful Yingluck was right as she always is. She said before that we were all imagining prices were going up and here is the government's own evidence to prove it. Just two and a half per cent a year says the Commerce Ministry and they never get it wrong either.

[godden]

My brain hurts