BANGKOK, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Thailand’s annual headline inflation rate was negative for an eighth month in November, data showed on Wednesday, and the Commerce Ministry said it was due to falling energy prices and government measures to alleviate the cost of living.
The headline consumer price index fell 0.49% in November from a year earlier, following an annual drop of 0.76% in the previous month. It was also the ninth consecutive month that inflation was below the central bank’s target range of 1% to 3%.
Severe flooding in parts of the country’s south had little impact on inflation, Nantapong Chiralerspong, head of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office, told a news conference.
The core CPI reading rose 0.66% from a year earlier, the ministry said.
Over the first 11 months of 2025, headline inflation was down 0.12% from the same period a year earlier.
Inflation next year was expected to be in a range of 0.0% to 1.0%, Nantapong said.
Economists expect the central bank to cut interest rates at a policy review on December 17, after the Bank of Thailand held its key rate steady at 1.50% in October.
On Monday, Bank of Thailand Governor Vitai Ratanakorn said he saw room to lower rates, but added such a move had only a limited impact on an economy facing structural problems.
(Reporting by Orathai Sriring and Thanadech Staporncharnchai, Writing by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by John Mair)
