BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand’s annual inflation rate was negative for a third straight month in June, driven by lower energy and food prices, but the commerce ministry said on Monday there was no sign of deflation yet.
The consumer price index dropped 0.25% in June from a year earlier, bigger than the 0.1% decline forecast in a Reuters poll, and following a 0.57% drop in the previous month.
It was the fourth month in a row that the inflation rate has been below the central bank’s target range of 1.0% to 3.0%.
Headline inflation in the third quarter is expected to remain negative before turning positive in the final quarter of the year, Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, head of the commerce ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office, told a press conference.
There were no signs of deflation because the price drop was driven by lower energy prices, he said.
The core CPI, which excludes volatile fresh food and energy prices, rose 1.06% in June from a year earlier, compared with a forecast increase of 1.10%.
In the first six months, annual headline inflation averaged 0.37%, with core inflation at 0.97%, the ministry said.
The ministry maintained its headline inflation forecast for 2025 at 0.0% to 1.0%.
Last month, the central bank left its key interest rate unchanged at 1.75%, seeking to save some policy ammunition if needed to support the economy amid trade uncertainty and renewed domestic political turbulence. The next rate meeting is on August 13.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring, Kitiphong Thaichareon, Thanadech Staporncharnchai; Writing by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Martin Petty)
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