Thailand’s headline inflation could start to come down amid falls in prices of goods and services with the Ministry of Commerce saying that the inflation rate could fall to below 6% for the month of October.
Thailand, like many other countries, has been facing a cost-push inflation that was running at a 14-year high after it hit 7.86% in August then dropping to 6.41% in September while October 2022 data is yet to be released.
Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit came out to say that a survey of the price of food and other necessities found that prices of food such as pork, rice, paddy, chicken and others have all seen a decline.
He said the prices of pork and chicken in supermarkets dropped by 3-12% in October. Vegetables’ prices dropped by 32-53%. Average-size eggs prices dropped 12% and palm oil dropped from 70 down to 47-50 Baht.
“The preliminary assessment saw inflation at less than 6% for October, showing that prices are coming down,” Jurin said.
At the same time, crop prices are improving such as Hom Mali rice is now selling at 15,500-16,000 Baht per ton, corn for livestock is selling at 11-12 Baht per kilogram and cassava is selling at 3 Baht per kilo.
“The MOU with the Philippines on November 7 will also increase the prices of cassava,” Jurin said.
The expected decline in inflation numbers was in line with the expectations of the Bank of Thailand which predicts that headline inflation to be at 6% by the end of the year with an average of 3.9% over the next 11 months.
