Cost of living up in June for third month

Cost of living up in June for third month

Saha Group's annual sale of products at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre continues until Sunday. (Photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)
Saha Group's annual sale of products at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre continues until Sunday. (Photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)

Annual headline consumer prices rose for a third straight month in June, lifted by higher food prices, the Commerce Ministry said on Friday.

The headline CPI index increased 0.38% in June from a year earlier after rising 0.46% in May and 0.07% in April, when it had its first annual gain in 15 months. A Reuters poll had forecast a rise of 0.50% in June.

Inflation in June rose 0.03% from May.

An increase in June's CPI was pushed by a rise in the food and beverage sector by 2.8% but the non-food sector declined by 0.94%. 

June's annual core inflation rate, which strips out raw food and energy prices, was 0.80%, the same as forecast in the poll and slightly above May's 0.78%. 

However, the headline inflation for the first half of 2016 was still a 0.09% contraction compared to the same period of 2015. 

Inflation has been held down by government price controls, subsidies and sluggish consumption at a time when household debt remains high. 

Low inflation is one reason the Bank of Thailand has left its policy interest rate unchanged at 1.50% since April 2015. The rate is 25 basis points above the record low during the global financial crisis. The central bank next reviews monetary policy on Aug 3. 

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