Electricity bills to push inflation up slightly

The ministry reported that the Consumer Price Index in April increased by 0.38 per cent year on year, while rising just 0.16 per cent compared with March. The year-on-year rise was due mainly to the price of crude oil being 12.42 per cent higher than in April 2016, as well as price rises for some foods.
“Inflation should [be stable] this year as stronger economic growth is expected, while oil prices will climb and the baht will continue its depreciation. The [Ft] rise in May will only cause the inflation rate to rise by [0.05 percentage point], so the whole-year inflation should not increase greatly,” said Pimchanok Vonkorpon, director of the ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office.
Inflation in the first four months was 1.03 per cent. The ministry’s inflation outlook for 2017 assumes Dubai oil being US$50-$60 per barrel and Thai economic growth of 3-4 per cent, while the baht is expected to stay at an average of 35.5-37.5 against the US dollar.
Last month, the food and beverage price index was down 0.26 per cent year on year, as last year’s food prices were high because of drought, while the non-food index headed up 0.29 per cent.
Core inflation, which excludes volatile fuel and food prices, was 0.5 per cent year on year, and 0.02 per cent month on month. Core inflation in the first four months was 0.61 per cent, well under the Bank of Thailand’s projection for annual core inflation between 0.5 and 3 per cent.