Thailand: Consumer prices unchanged year-on-year in August
Consumer prices fell 0.18% over the previous month in August, a sharper drop than July’s 0.12% fall. August’s result marked the weakest reading since May. Looking at the details of the release, the change in the prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages was largely steady in August. In contrast, prices for housing and furnishing fell at a less pronounced rate.
Consumer prices were unchanged year-on-year in August, following July’s 0.5%. Accordingly, annual average inflation remained at July’s 0.3% in August. Lastly, core inflation was unchanged, coming in at July’s 0.1% in August.
Regarding the outlook, Kyrstal Tan and Sanjay Mathur, economists are ANZ Research, commented:
“Looking ahead, inflation readings are likely to rise again in the coming months as the economy emerges from containment measures and as utility bills normalise. To recap, the government lowered utility bills for July and August to provide relief and encourage people to remain at home amid the virus outbreak. The virus situation has improved more recently, giving the government scope to ease restrictions, effective 1 September. A cautious reopening, if successfully managed, will boost economic activity. There are early signs that mobility has picked up sharply.”