Thailand: Consumer prices register largest fall since June 2020 in February
Consumer prices fell 0.91% over the previous month in February, swinging from the 0.09% increase logged in January. February’s result marked the sharpest fall in prices since April 2020. The figure was largely due to dropping prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages. In addition, price pressures for utilities also fell.
Consumer prices dropped 1.2% year-on-year in February, a sharper fall than January’s 0.3% decrease. February’s reading marked the largest fall in consumer prices since June 2020. The annual average variation of consumer prices fell to minus 1.1% in February (January: -1.0%). Core inflation edged down to 0.0% from the previous month’s 0.2%.
Regarding the outlook for inflation and interest rates, Krystal Tan and Sanjay Mathur, economists at ANZ Research, commented:
“Looking ahead, inflation is set to rebound on the back of low base effects and improving activity. However, a slow-going economic recovery means there is little danger of the accommodative monetary policy reversing any time soon.“