BANGKOK — Thailand’s headline consumer price index (CPI) rose in May for a second straight month, up 1.54 percent from a year earlier, after the previous month’s annual rise of 0.19 percent, the commerce ministry said on Friday.
The May figure compared with a forecast increase of 1.19 percent in a Reuters poll and marked the first time since April 2023 that the headline inflation rate returned to the central bank’s target range of 1 percent to 3 percent.
The core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.39 percent year on year in May.
In the first five months of 2024, average headline CPI dropped 0.13 percent from a year earlier, with the core rate up 0.42 percent.
The ministry maintained its headline inflation forecast for the year of between 0.0 percent and 1.0 percent. It said CPI would likely rise slowly in June.
In April, the central bank left its key interest rate at a more than decade-high of 2.50 percent.
The next rate review is on June 12, when most economists expect no policy change.