March inflation figures show steady recovery of Thai economy
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) dropped 0.08 per cent year-on-year in March, its lowest contraction in 13 months and a marked improvement from the 1.17 per cent drop in February, the Commerce Ministry reported on Monday.
The CPI measures headline inflation based on the prices of a basket of consumer goods and services.
The improvement stemmed mainly from the rising price of energy, pork, and cooking oil.
However, the price of other items, including raw food and housing, dropped further to drive a slight reduction in headline inflation of 0.08 per cent last month.
Discounting food and energy (core inflation), the CPI in March rose 0.09 per cent (YoY).
In the first quarter of 2021, headline inflation fell 0.53 per cent (YoY) and core inflation rose 0.12 per cent.
The slight contraction of CPI came with signs of gradual economic recovery both on the demand and supply sides, the ministry said.
The demand side has seen improvement in farmers' income, agricultural prices, private consumption index, sales of commercial vehicles and motorcycles, and real estate transactions.
On the supply side, the Manufacturing Production Index (MPI), Capacity Utilisation (Cap-U), and the Producer Price Index (PPI) are on upward trends.
The Commerce Ministry has adjusted its forecast for headline inflation in 2021 to 0.7 to 1.7 per cent (1.2 per cent on average).