The Permanent Secretary for Commerce Yanyong Phuangrach said on Friday that Thailand’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) in May stood at 115.23, up 2.53 per cent from May 2010, and up 0.39 per cent from April.
The rise was induced by higher food and beverage prices and lower farm production caused by prolonged hot weather, according to the Commerce Ministry’s data.
The May figure is well down on December last year when the CPI stood at 4.2 per cent higher than December 2010. Inflation has been shrinking since, to around 3.6 in January, hovering around 3.3 in February, March and April and then dropping to 2.53 last month.
Mr Yanyong said that, when compared with the current economic growth trend, the latest CPI data is no great concern. He described the overall situation as “acceptable and showing stability”.
The Core CPI for May (which excludes volatile commodities such as food and fuel) stood at 108.15, up 1.95 per cent year-on-year and 0.29 per cent from April.
The Permanent Secretary said that the figures show that Thailand is maintaining this year’s inflation target at 3.3 to 3.8 per cent.