The Bank of Thailand said on Thursday its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) thought monetary policy should remain accommodative to support economic growth and help inflation get back to the target range.
The BoT forecast headline inflation at 1.1% for 2018, and for consumer prices to return to the 1-4% target range in the first half of the year, it said in an open letter to Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong to clarify why inflation was below the target last year.
The headline inflation rate was 0.66% in 2017.
The central bank cited structural and supply-side factors, including lower food prices, as among the factors.
The BoT has left its policy interest rate unchanged at 1.5%, near record lows, since April 2015.
The MPC next reviews monetary policy on Feb 14.
The central bank has forecast economic growth of 3.9% for both 2017 and 2018. Official 2017 GDP data is due on Feb 19.